By Chris Neiger
Publication Date: 2026-03-17 13:00:00
Microsoft (MSFT +1.11%) made a big announcement recently, saying its top-tier Microsoft 365 E7 enterprise plan would have a monthly price of $99 and include its Copilot AI. That may not seem like a big deal at first glance, considering that nearly every tech company has its own AI agents for a monthly subscription. But the price increase that begins May 1 is 65% higher than Microsoft’s previous monthly cost for its top enterprise subscription.
The price hike marks the company’s focus on generating more revenue from AI to help offset the $72 billion the company spent in capital expenditures over the past two quarters, mostly for AI data center infrastructure.
Image source: Getty Images.
There’s a lot at stake for Microsoft
Building out AI data centers is a necessity for large tech companies, and Microsoft’s sizable investment will eventually need to recoup some of those costs. And raising prices for its most capable enterprise AI suite is the most logical place to start.
