The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing Microsoft for allegedly misleading 2.7 million Australians into paying for the Copilot AI assistant in the Microsoft 365 service.
Even though subscribers could have stayed on their existing plan without Copilot and at the same price, the ACCC says that Microsoft concealed that option and designed its communications to make users think that upgrading to the more expensive, AI‑integrated tier was the only way to keep their service active.
The legal action was taken after an investigation from the ACCC prompted by multiple complaints about Microsoft’s deceptive practices.
Forcing Copilot onto 365 subscribers
Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is a subscription-based productivity suite offering access to Microsoft Office apps and cloud tools such as OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint.
On October 31, 2024, Microsoft completed the integration of the Copilot AI tool into the Microsoft 365 service for Australian customers (global rollout continued through early 2025), providing AI assistance across apps such as drafting text, summarizing reports, and generating explanations through chats.
From that date onward, existing Microsoft 365 subscribers who reached their renewal date or opted for auto-renewal, received messages from Microsoft that did not inform they could continue with their existing tier, without Copilot.
Email Microsoft sent to existing subscribers
Source: ACCC
Customers would only see that option if they went through the service cancellation process, which ACCC comments isn’t something most people interested in continuing to use Microsoft 365 would do in the first place.
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