copilot

Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft Australia and its U.S. parent company, accusing the tech giant of misleading millions of customers by integrating AI Copilot into Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions — while raising prices and failing to clearly present cheaper alternatives.

The Hidden “Classic” Plan
According to the lawsuit, after October 31 last year, Microsoft informed customers with auto-renewal that they had only two options:

Accept the new, more expensive Microsoft 365 plan with Copilot included, or

Cancel their subscription entirely.

However, the ACCC says that was not true.

There was a third option — the so-called “Classic” Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans, which retained all original features without Copilot and at the previous lower prices.
The regulator claims Microsoft intentionally omitted any mention of these cheaper “Classic” plans in its customer communications.

Users could only discover them by entering the account management section, clicking “Cancel subscription,” and proceeding far enough into the cancellation flow to reveal the hidden option.
“Following our investigation, we will allege in court that Microsoft deliberately withheld information about the Classic plans to push more consumers toward the higher-priced Copilot-integrated versions,” said Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the ACCC.

2.7 Million Customers Potentially Misled
The case could affect more than 2.7 million Australian subscribers, who may have been misled about their options, according to the ACCC.

The regulator argues this conduct violated consumer law, as Microsoft failed to transparently disclose all available choices.
The investigation was launched after consumer complaints and online discussions — including on Reddit, where users shared step-by-step guides showing how to find the hidden “Classic” option.

The ACCC is seeking:

🔹 Financial penalties

🔹 Court orders prohibiting similar conduct

🔹 Public declarations of wrongdoing

🔹 Compensation for affected consumers

🔹 Reimbursement of legal costs

Legal Experts Call for Transparency
Legal analysts say the case underscores the need for tech companies to clearly present all subscription options, including cheaper or AI-free versions.
“Simply making an option technically available — such as hiding it deep within account settings or the cancellation process — is not enough,” said Even Alex Chandra, a partner at IGNOS Law Alliance.

“Companies must prominently display all material choices so consumers can make informed decisions.”

Microsoft Faces Pressure in the U.S. as Well
The Australian lawsuit comes as Microsoft faces separate legal challenges in the United States.

Earlier this month, a group of ChatGPT Plus subscribers filed a class action lawsuit, claiming Microsoft’s exclusive 2019 Azure deal with OpenAI limited computing resources for ChatGPT, artificially inflating subscription prices and giving Microsoft an advantage for its own AI products — including Copilot.

What Comes Next
If the court upholds the ACCC’s findings, the case could set a global precedent for how tech companies handle AI integrations and subscription changes without clear user consent.
The regulator emphasized that its goal is not to hinder AI innovation, but to ensure consumers are not misled or forced into more expensive plans.


#Microsoft , #AI , #Copilot , #ArtificialInteligence , #lawsuit

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