Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue the GPT Builder feature in Copilot Pro for consumer use, only three months after its broad release.
Starting July 10, 2024, the ability to create GPTs in Copilot Pro will be phased out, and from July 10 to July 14, 2024, all GPTs generated by both Microsoft and its users, along with related data, will be deleted.
In a statement on its website, it said: “We are continuing to evaluate our strategy for consumer Copilot extensibility and are prioritizing core product experiences, while remaining committed to developer opportunities. To this end, we are shifting our focus on GPTs to Commercial and Enterprise scenarios and are stopping GPT efforts in consumer Copilot.”
Wait, what? Microsoft will remove the ability to create GPTs starting on July 10, 2024, and then remove all GPTs (created by Microsoft and by customers) along with their associated GPT data pic.twitter.com/XZQEK052Lw
— Tibor Blaho (@btibor91) June 11, 2024
In January, Microsoft introduced a paid subscription model for Copilot. Similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus, Copilot Pro, priced at $20 per month, offers subscribers preferential access to the AI model and integration with Microsoft Office applications such as Word and PowerPoint.
The tech giant has told users that if they have a custom Copilot GPT and want to save their unique instructions, enter the edit mode of the GPT. From there, navigate to the configure tab where you’ll find tailored instructions. It’s a good practice to copy these and save them in a different location for future reference.
This is important as all data collected by the Copilot GPT builder and any GPTs made by customers are set to be deleted.
Why is Microsoft stopping GPT Builder in Copilot Pro?
This news isn’t entirely unexpected. Back in May, Microsoft stated it was pausing the development of its Copilot AI to improve the tool’s current features in response to user feedback. The company assured that these improvements would not disrupt the user experience with Copilot. Hence, this development could be a strategic move by Microsoft to make the usability of Copilot much better.
Featured image: Microsoft