One of the reasons for consumers to buy into Microsoft’s Copilot Pro, Custom GPT Builder, is quietly being killed off.
Microsoft said that GPT Builder is being retired, and if you have bought into it, you’ll have to remove all of your data by July 14. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t consider the ability to build GPT models a consumer priority, the company wrote in a support document.
Microsoft Copilot is a “neutral,” Microsoft-specific version of Copilot. Essentially, it’s the same experience for all users. You can think of GPT Builder as a way to personalize Copilot in much the same way that you can personalize your PC: GPT Builder allowed you to train a custom Copilot on your own data, with your own style. In a way, it’s what Apple promised this week with “Apple Intelligence”: that it would know you, and that you’d be able to tweak it as you see fit. No longer for Copilot.
The last day to build new GPTs will be July 10.
“We are continuing to evaluate our strategy for consumer Copilot extensibility and are prioritizing core product experiences, while remaining committed to developer opportunities,” Microsoft said. “To this end, we are shifting our focus on GPTs to Commercial and Enterprise scenarios and are stopping GPT efforts in consumer Copilot.”
Microsoft said that it would delete the data that it’s collected alongside the deleted GPT models. You will not be able to access any created GPTs after July 14, either.
Microsoft’s decision, however, undercuts one of the only reasons to subscribe to Microsoft Copilot Pro, a $20/mo subscription for consumers that Microsoft announced in January. Copilot Pro offered three benefits above the basic Copilot offering: priority access to new LLMs; Copilot in Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote), and the Custom GPT Builder. Now, only the first two remain.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.