Microsoft Brings PAYG to the Copilot Retrieval API—But at What Cost?

PAYG access is coming to the Microsoft 365 Copilot Retrieval API, allowing you to plug some of Microsoft 365 Copilot's data layer into any AI experience for Copilot-licensed and non-licensed users.

This enables you not only to plug directly into the data Copilot leverages for responses, but in a way that is respectful of permissions and other compliance needs, without having to reinvent the wheel by transposing your data governance set-up to a separate RAG index.

However, at $0.1 per API call, for a maximum retrieval of 25 relevant documents, this seems incredibly expensive versus the inclusive access that a Microsoft 365 Copilot license offers.

A few months ago, when talking about Work IQ in a video, I reflected on the moat Microsoft has when it comes to business data, and while it has historically been permissive in the Graph access currently used by competing AI providers to serve up Microsoft 365 data, the same has not been true with these specific Copilot APIs. A high price per use seems justified, as this isn't about gatekeeping information, it's about amplifying the value proposition of Microsoft 365 Copilot as a holistic ecosystem play.

I've not done much with the Copilot APIs yet, but I spent some time this morning playing with them in Graph Explorer. There are certainly some interesting possibilities, particularly when you consider all the automation tools that are now seeded via Copilot Studio for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users.

See the comments for information on this and my previous thoughts on Work IQ.