In the fast-evolving world of enterprise artificial intelligence, Microsoft’s public campaign to position Copilot as the ultimate workplace assistant faces a stubborn reality: end users still overwhelmingly gravitate toward OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Despite colossal investments, robust integration into Microsoft 365, and forceful marketing to IT decision-makers, the everyday behavior of millions reveals a persistent gap between strategic vision and actual adoption. With multibillion-dollar bets in play, legal wrangling behind the scenes, and a race for cultural mindshare, the showdown between Copilot and ChatGPT marks both a crossroads for Microsoft and a bellwether for the wider AI industry.
Microsoft Copilot’s entrance into the enterprise productivity space was heralded as a seismic transformation for modern work. Bundled deeply into Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and more, Copilot is capable of generating emails, creating spreadsheets, drafting presentations, and even summarizing documents—all through the power of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and related models. On paper, Copilot’s promise is clear: it’s a seamless layer of intelligent automation atop the tools already in use by knowledge workers worldwide.
Yet real-world adoption metrics tell a different story. According to multiple independent analyses of traffic data for February 2025, ChatGPT remains the undisputed leader by sheer volume and frequency of use:
This chasm remains even as Microsoft celebrates major enterprise wins. Over 70% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted Copilot in some form, giving it an enviable corporate footprint. However, such deployments, often driven by top-down licensing decisions, have yet to translate into the sort of habitual, grassroots use that ChatGPT enjoys among individual users, developers, students, and hobbyists across the globe.
By comparison, Copilot remains deeply embedded into Microsoft’s workflow-centric ecosystem. Its strengths are undeniable for enterprise users steeped in Microsoft 365, enabling them to pull insights from emails, generate reports, and automate spreadsheet work. But outside these contexts, and absent active user training or onboarding, Copilot functions more as a feature than as a daily habit. For many, its presence is almost invisible unless directly invoked.
Yet the ambitions of both companies are beginning to diverge in ways that could prove irreconcilable. OpenAI’s drive to restructure as a for-profit public-benefit corporation—and possibly to pursue a public listing—has raised foundational questions. As part of the agreement, Microsoft’s consent is legally required for such a transition, giving the Redmond giant leverage over OpenAI’s future business moves.
One of the most contentious sticking points, per insiders familiar with the negotiations, is the revenue-sharing agreement. Microsoft currently extracts a 20% cut of OpenAI’s total revenue, with an upper cap reportedly set at $92 billion. OpenAI, seeking to broaden its investor appeal and improve its own bottom line, has argued for reducing Microsoft’s share to 10% by 2030. While rumors have circulated about Microsoft taking up to 49% equity in a restructured OpenAI, no solid agreement has been finalized. Microsoft’s concern: giving up current licensing advantages and guaranteed revenue flows for an uncertain future stake. In the view of some executives, the public markets care more about access to unique AI infrastructure than about owning a risky, soon-to-be-diluted share of OpenAI itself.
This tense dynamic is amplified by both companies’ attempts to own end-user relationships. Microsoft’s push for Copilot as a premium Office feature puts it in direct competition with OpenAI’s push for ChatGPT Enterprise, Team, and API—each pitched at similar business customers. In effect, Microsoft is investing in an ecosystem that increasingly threatens to compete directly with its own offering.
Suleyman’s mandate was clear: accelerate in-house capabilities, push the boundary of what the “Microsoft AI” brand can accomplish, and de-risk the company’s AI supply chain. Yet the road has been bumpy. The MAI-1 project, while ambitious, has suffered from performance issues, organizational disputes, and retention crises—most notably the public fallout between engineering leads after failed training runs marred by synthetic data problems. While Microsoft’s intent to gain autonomy in AI capabilities is well-founded, practical execution has been complicated by cultural and technical growing pains.
Meanwhile, Copilot’s user growth has stagnated. Internal reports, as circulated by Microsoft CFO Amy Hood, pinned Copilot’s active weekly user count at just 20 million—a figure flat for nearly a year. By contrast, ChatGPT’s weekly user count recently approached 400 million. As a result, Copilot remains more of a strategic investment than a breakout consumer success, despite a continual push for new features and integrations.
For Microsoft, the challenge is transitioning Copilot from an “IT department feature” into a daily driver for the average employee. This may require a leap in user education, interface redesign, or the creation of new, addictive use cases that draw people in naturally. As Windows and Office continue to evolve, expect to see Copilot become even more pervasive, but its long-term success will hinge on whether users actually choose it—not just whether organizations buy it in bulk.
For OpenAI, the task is twofold: continue to grow ChatGPT into new enterprise workflows without alienating its core base of casual users, and manage the risks inherent in becoming both a backend infrastructure provider and a front-end competitor to its biggest partner.
The bottom line? Until one product cracks the elusive combination of consumer adoption and enterprise indispensability, users—particularly those in the Windows ecosystem—should expect a period of rapid innovation, shifting loyalties, and unforeseen cross-pollination between tools. This is no longer a simple technology race; it is a contest to define what “AI for everyone” truly means. As both companies refine their approaches, Windows users will find themselves at the very center of this digital transformation—a front-row seat at a battle that’s only just begun.
Source: Tekedia Microsoft Pushes Copilot as Enterprise AI Tool, But Most Users Prefer ChatGPT, Deepening Tension With OpenAI - Tekedia
From Boardroom Mandate to User Reality: The Numbers Behind the AI Divide
Microsoft Copilot’s entrance into the enterprise productivity space was heralded as a seismic transformation for modern work. Bundled deeply into Windows 11, Microsoft 365, Teams, Outlook, and more, Copilot is capable of generating emails, creating spreadsheets, drafting presentations, and even summarizing documents—all through the power of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and related models. On paper, Copilot’s promise is clear: it’s a seamless layer of intelligent automation atop the tools already in use by knowledge workers worldwide.Yet real-world adoption metrics tell a different story. According to multiple independent analyses of traffic data for February 2025, ChatGPT remains the undisputed leader by sheer volume and frequency of use:
- ChatGPT: 173.3 million average daily visits; 5.2 billion monthly visits.
- Microsoft Copilot: 3.3 million average daily visits; 98.9 million monthly visits.
This chasm remains even as Microsoft celebrates major enterprise wins. Over 70% of Fortune 500 companies have adopted Copilot in some form, giving it an enviable corporate footprint. However, such deployments, often driven by top-down licensing decisions, have yet to translate into the sort of habitual, grassroots use that ChatGPT enjoys among individual users, developers, students, and hobbyists across the globe.
The Usability Paradox: Integration Is Not Engagement
What explains this persistent advantage for ChatGPT? Industry analysts point to several interlocking factors.1. First Mover and Brand Recognition
ChatGPT’s head start established it as the go-to cultural reference point for AI chatbots. For many, the very phrase “AI assistant” is synonymous with ChatGPT. Its viral success in 2023 and 2024 built a global user base that includes not just enterprises, but billions of inquiring minds searching for information, creativity, and automation in their daily lives.2. Superior Usability and Flexibility
ChatGPT’s straightforward, conversational interface is attuned to diverse user needs. It can answer trivia, brainstorm ideas, write code, summarize research, or draft stories—all in a manner that feels intuitive and approachable. It’s as likely to be used for homework help as it is for business analysis.By comparison, Copilot remains deeply embedded into Microsoft’s workflow-centric ecosystem. Its strengths are undeniable for enterprise users steeped in Microsoft 365, enabling them to pull insights from emails, generate reports, and automate spreadsheet work. But outside these contexts, and absent active user training or onboarding, Copilot functions more as a feature than as a daily habit. For many, its presence is almost invisible unless directly invoked.
3. Inertia and User Habits
The inertia of existing user habits imposes a formidable barrier. Citing interviews and user studies, even those with active Copilot licenses frequently continue to use ChatGPT for its perceived ease, familiarity, and flexibility. The first tool that “works” becomes the go-to, and subsequent contenders face an uphill battle even if they’re technically superior in certain workflows.A Tale of Two Strategies: Broad Versus Deep Penetration
The dichotomy between ChatGPT’s mass-market appeal and Copilot’s enterprise integration is stark. As of 2025:- ChatGPT is optimized for a conversational, platform-agnostic user experience, making it the default tool for creative writing, brainstorming, technical troubleshooting, and academic tasks. It’s easily accessible, device-agnostic, and ever-improving through rapid iteration.
- Copilot, on the other hand, excels in professional environments where Microsoft 365 is embedded. Its primary value proposition is automating structured business tasks—generating presentations, analyzing data, scheduling meetings—but it lacks the frictionless, general-purpose feel that fuels ChatGPT’s meteoric traffic numbers.
| Metric | ChatGPT | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Average Daily Visits | 173.3 million | 3.3 million |
| Monthly Visits | 5.2 billion | 98.9 million |
| 2024 Total Visits | 40 billion | 677.3 million |
| 2023-24 YoY Growth | 60.64% | 6811.22% |
| Fortune 500 Adoption | N/A | >70% |
| Global Market Share | 43.16% | 0.82% |
Strategic Tensions: Microsoft, OpenAI, and the Risk of Cannibalization
Behind the scenes, the partnership between Microsoft and OpenAI is under strain. Microsoft retains exclusive licensing rights to OpenAI’s foundational models through 2030, having invested over $13 billion into the partnership. In practice, this grants Microsoft privileged access to the engine driving both Copilot and ChatGPT.Yet the ambitions of both companies are beginning to diverge in ways that could prove irreconcilable. OpenAI’s drive to restructure as a for-profit public-benefit corporation—and possibly to pursue a public listing—has raised foundational questions. As part of the agreement, Microsoft’s consent is legally required for such a transition, giving the Redmond giant leverage over OpenAI’s future business moves.
One of the most contentious sticking points, per insiders familiar with the negotiations, is the revenue-sharing agreement. Microsoft currently extracts a 20% cut of OpenAI’s total revenue, with an upper cap reportedly set at $92 billion. OpenAI, seeking to broaden its investor appeal and improve its own bottom line, has argued for reducing Microsoft’s share to 10% by 2030. While rumors have circulated about Microsoft taking up to 49% equity in a restructured OpenAI, no solid agreement has been finalized. Microsoft’s concern: giving up current licensing advantages and guaranteed revenue flows for an uncertain future stake. In the view of some executives, the public markets care more about access to unique AI infrastructure than about owning a risky, soon-to-be-diluted share of OpenAI itself.
This tense dynamic is amplified by both companies’ attempts to own end-user relationships. Microsoft’s push for Copilot as a premium Office feature puts it in direct competition with OpenAI’s push for ChatGPT Enterprise, Team, and API—each pitched at similar business customers. In effect, Microsoft is investing in an ecosystem that increasingly threatens to compete directly with its own offering.
The Suleyman Gambit: Building a Plan B for Enterprise AI
In response to these risks, Microsoft has begun to hedge its bets. The recruitment of Mustafa Suleyman—a co-founder of Google DeepMind and former CEO of Inflection—was less about a single product than a strategic shift to reduce dependence on OpenAI. Under Suleyman, Microsoft embarked on an aggressive internal project to build its own large language models (MAI-1), targeting roughly 500 billion parameters.Suleyman’s mandate was clear: accelerate in-house capabilities, push the boundary of what the “Microsoft AI” brand can accomplish, and de-risk the company’s AI supply chain. Yet the road has been bumpy. The MAI-1 project, while ambitious, has suffered from performance issues, organizational disputes, and retention crises—most notably the public fallout between engineering leads after failed training runs marred by synthetic data problems. While Microsoft’s intent to gain autonomy in AI capabilities is well-founded, practical execution has been complicated by cultural and technical growing pains.
Meanwhile, Copilot’s user growth has stagnated. Internal reports, as circulated by Microsoft CFO Amy Hood, pinned Copilot’s active weekly user count at just 20 million—a figure flat for nearly a year. By contrast, ChatGPT’s weekly user count recently approached 400 million. As a result, Copilot remains more of a strategic investment than a breakout consumer success, despite a continual push for new features and integrations.
Emerging Use Cases, Feature Gaps, and the Road Ahead
Both Copilot and ChatGPT are evolving—sometimes in parallel, sometimes in starkly different directions.ChatGPT: Continuous Iteration and Everyday Superiority
- Strengths: Universal access, plug-and-play onboarding, intuitive conversational interface. Capable in brainstorming, creative writing, research synthesis, code generation, and customer support.
- Weaknesses: Lower integration with structured enterprise data (e.g., corporate files, emails, business processes). Lacks privilege or deep security controls desired by enterprise IT.
Copilot: Enterprise-Grade Automation but Limited Consumer Pull
- Strengths: Deep hooks into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, high-quality data privacy, ability to pull from business context in real time, enterprise compliance, and security features (aligned with corporate requirements).
- Weaknesses: Perceived as a background feature, rarely used as a standalone AI tool. Engagement suffers unless users are nudged, trained, or incentivized. Feature development can lag behind ChatGPT’s rapid releases as Microsoft prioritizes reliability and compliance.
Notable Features and Innovations
Microsoft, for its part, is not standing still. Recent product updates include Copilot Vision—an advanced feature enabling the AI to “see” and interpret the user’s screen, providing support akin to co-browsing in a Teams call. File search and summarization features are in testing, aiming to bridge the flexibility gap with ChatGPT. Strategic partnerships now see Copilot integrated into select TV models by Samsung and LG, as well as new consumer PCs by both Intel and AMD, signaling a broader push outside traditional business boundaries.Critical Analysis: What Windows Users and IT Leaders Need to Know
The outcome of this AI rivalry will define how organizations approach productivity, security, and culture for years to come.Strengths and Opportunities
- Microsoft Copilot
- Integration: Indispensable for regulated industries and Fortune 500 workflows, already adopted by 70% of top global enterprises.
- Security and Compliance: Trusted by enterprise IT due to Microsoft’s robust infrastructure and existing contracts.
- Growth Potential: Despite slow current growth, deepening integration with Windows, Office, and even consumer electronics could drive a step-change in engagement if Microsoft cracks the code on usability and user training.
- OpenAI ChatGPT
- Ubiquity: Brand synonymous with generative AI.
- Agility: Continual improvements, experimental features, broad use cases.
- Ecosystem: OpenAI API and partnership network enable third-party innovation far beyond one company.
Risks and Weaknesses
- Microsoft Copilot
- Adoption Risk: Without a breakthrough in consumer appeal, Copilot risks remaining “just another fad feature.”
- Cannibalization: Microsoft may inadvertently push users to OpenAI’s competing offerings, undermining its own subscription models.
- Strategic Drift: Dependency on OpenAI complicates internal planning, roadmap prioritization, and bargaining leverage. Recent MAI-1 setbacks cast some doubt on Microsoft’s ability to innovate independently at scale.
- OpenAI ChatGPT
- Enterprise Penetration: Lags Copilot in deep, privileged integration with business systems, possibly limiting its stickiness in regulated verticals.
- Monetization Pressure: With Microsoft pushing to maintain or increase its revenue share, and OpenAI eyeing a broader investor base, conflicts over commercial terms could roil the partnership.
- Regulatory and Ethical Concerns
- Both companies face increased scrutiny from regulators regarding data privacy, bias, and AI safety. As deployment scales, so do the stakes for compliance and public trust.
The AI Engagement Formula: What Will Matter Most in 2026 and Beyond?
At its heart, the Copilot versus ChatGPT contest is about more than traffic or technical integration. It’s a test of whether AI tools can become truly indispensable for both work and life—crossing the chasm from “novelty” to “necessity.”For Microsoft, the challenge is transitioning Copilot from an “IT department feature” into a daily driver for the average employee. This may require a leap in user education, interface redesign, or the creation of new, addictive use cases that draw people in naturally. As Windows and Office continue to evolve, expect to see Copilot become even more pervasive, but its long-term success will hinge on whether users actually choose it—not just whether organizations buy it in bulk.
For OpenAI, the task is twofold: continue to grow ChatGPT into new enterprise workflows without alienating its core base of casual users, and manage the risks inherent in becoming both a backend infrastructure provider and a front-end competitor to its biggest partner.
Conclusion: The Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher for Windows Users and the AI Industry
With over $13 billion on the line, a revenue-sharing model facing renegotiation, and fundamental questions about the nature of productivity software, the Copilot-ChatGPT rivalry will shape the next era of digital work. For now, ChatGPT wins on frequency, engagement, and cultural resonance, while Copilot boasts the endorsement of corporate IT and the promise of future, deeply contextual automation.The bottom line? Until one product cracks the elusive combination of consumer adoption and enterprise indispensability, users—particularly those in the Windows ecosystem—should expect a period of rapid innovation, shifting loyalties, and unforeseen cross-pollination between tools. This is no longer a simple technology race; it is a contest to define what “AI for everyone” truly means. As both companies refine their approaches, Windows users will find themselves at the very center of this digital transformation—a front-row seat at a battle that’s only just begun.
Source: Tekedia Microsoft Pushes Copilot as Enterprise AI Tool, But Most Users Prefer ChatGPT, Deepening Tension With OpenAI - Tekedia
