Microsoft Tests DeepSeek for Copilot Cowork to Cut Costs
Microsoft is moving Copilot Cowork from a fixed subscription to usage-based billing and testing DeepSeek V4 integration as a lower-cost alternative to Claude. The head of Copilot called the current business model unprofitable, with heavy losses driven by active users delegating hundreds of AI tasks per week—agentic scenarios on Claude that consume large token volumes. As a budget option, Microsoft plans to optionally add a fine-tuned version of DeepSeek V4, deployed within Azure to keep customer data isolated on Microsoft’s infrastructure. A final decision on adopting DeepSeek is expected in the coming weeks.