Microsoft launches standalone Copilot app on Android with free GPT-4

Microsoft just quietly unbundled its AI assistant from Bing on mobile.

Without any formal announcement, a dedicated Microsoft Copilot app surfaced on the Google Play Store for Android. First spotted by Neowin, the app had actually been quietly available for nearly a week before catching widespread attention. An iOS version is not yet available, meaning iPhone and iPad users still have to rely on the main Bing app for now.

A standalone ChatGPT rival

The Android Copilot app functions almost identically to OpenAI's ChatGPT. It features standard conversational AI capabilities, drafts emails and long-form documents, and creates images via DALL-E 3.

Crucially, it offers free access to OpenAI's GPT-4 model—a feature that normally requires a $20-a-month ChatGPT Plus subscription.

This mobile launch follows Microsoft's decision a little over a month ago to rebrand Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise simply as Copilot. Microsoft originally launched its AI push inside its Bing search engine earlier this year, but it has increasingly shifted Copilot toward a standalone identity, complete with its own dedicated web address at copilot.microsoft.com. A standalone mobile presence is the obvious next step.

Why it matters

For Android users, this is arguably the best free AI deal on mobile right now. You get full access to GPT-4 text generation and DALL-E 3 image creation without paying a subscription and, just as importantly, without having to navigate a cluttered search engine app.

For the industry, Microsoft is playing an aggressive game against its own partner. By giving away GPT-4 access for free in a dedicated mobile container, Microsoft is actively competing with OpenAI's mobile app for daily active users. It also puts immediate pressure on Google to streamline its own assistant experience on Android.

We think unbundling Copilot from Bing was the only smart play left. Earlier this year, Microsoft tried desperately to use generative AI as leverage to revive Bing search, forcing users through a bloated portal. By treating Copilot as its own standalone flagship product, Microsoft is finally giving users what they actually wanted: a clean, fast chat client. The real question is how long Microsoft can afford to foot the massive inference bill of free GPT-4 before monetizing with ads or feature gating.