OpenAI’s ChatGPT is winning over corporate customers at the expense of Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant, creating tension between the two partner companies. Bloomberg reporters Brody Ford and Shirin Ghaffary reveal how this competition is reshaping the enterprise AI market.
Drugmaker Amgen initially planned to deploy Microsoft’s Copilot to 20,000 employees but switched to ChatGPT after 13 months. “OpenAI has done a tremendous job making their product fun to use,” said Amgen Senior Vice President Sean Bruich. The company expanded ChatGPT usage after employees found it more helpful for research and document summarization.
Microsoft salespeople report being caught off guard by ChatGPT’s enterprise momentum. Both companies offer similar AI assistants for workplace tasks like writing, research, and data analysis. However, many office workers already knew ChatGPT from home use, giving OpenAI a first-mover advantage.
OpenAI recently reported 3 million paying business users, representing a 50% increase in recent months. Microsoft counters that Copilot serves 70% of Fortune 500 companies, with paid users tripling year-over-year.
Some companies are testing both tools. New York Life Insurance deployed ChatGPT and Copilot to all 12,000 employees to evaluate performance. Consulting firm Bain uses ChatGPT for 16,000 employees but only 2,000 use Copilot.
Microsoft’s advantage lies in integration with existing workplace software and lower pricing at $30 monthly per user compared to ChatGPT Enterprise’s $60. However, OpenAI now offers usage-based pricing that could reduce costs and accelerate adoption.