Artificial intelligence chatbots are fast becoming staples of modern office life, but it’s clear that not all tools are catching on equally. Despite Microsoft’s significant investment and strategic enterprise deals to promote its AI assistant Copilot, many companies are finding that their employees still prefer to use OpenAI’s ChatGPT—even when they’re officially supposed to be using Copilot.
Companies Buy Copilot, But Workers Prefer ChatGPT
Microsoft has poured resources into pushing Copilot across the corporate world, often leveraging its existing partnerships with IT departments and integrating the tool with widely used software like Word, Excel, and Outlook. In theory, this should have given Copilot a strong advantage. But in practice, many workers continue using ChatGPT out of habit and comfort.
One striking example comes from pharmaceutical company Amgen. The company purchased licenses for 20,000 employees to use Microsoft Copilot, only to find that—over a year later—many still relied heavily on ChatGPT for daily tasks. And Amgen isn’t alone. Similar stories are emerging from other firms, showing a common trend: businesses may be adopting Copilot on paper, but their employees are sticking with what they know.
This loyalty to ChatGPT stems largely from familiarity. Long before Microsoft began actively marketing Copilot to the business world, millions of workers had already used ChatGPT at home for things like writing assistance, research, and brainstorming. That early exposure created a comfort level that Copilot, despite its enterprise-ready features, has struggled to replicate.
Same Core Tech, But Different Outcomes
Ironically, Copilot is built using the same foundational models developed by OpenAI. In many ways, it offers the same functionality—summarizing information, composing emails, analyzing data, even generating images. However, the delivery and user experience differ just enough that people seem to prefer sticking with the more familiar ChatGPT interface.
By mid-2025, the numbers clearly reflect this divide. ChatGPT now boasts nearly 800 million weekly active users, including 3 million business subscribers. In contrast, Microsoft Copilot has plateaued at 20 million weekly users, a figure that hasn’t changed much in the past year despite a wave of corporate adoption.
Microsoft’s Confidence Meets Unexpected Resistance
Microsoft had assumed it held a trump card in the form of decades-long relationships with global corporations and its dominance in enterprise software. The company’s sales teams were confident they could leverage these connections to dominate the business AI market, even as ChatGPT captured the public’s imagination.
But by the time Microsoft fully rolled out Copilot, many office workers had already developed routines around ChatGPT. They didn’t need training or onboarding—they just kept using the same AI tool they were already familiar with, even if their employer was paying for a different one.
This first-mover advantage has proven powerful. Microsoft is finding that even large-scale adoption contracts can’t guarantee actual usage, especially when the alternative is a product employees already prefer.
Big Deals, But Little Impact
To secure its position in the AI race, Microsoft has signed high-value deals with major companies like Volkswagen, Barclays, and Accenture. These agreements cover more than 100,000 seats each and are reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars annually.
Still, reports suggest that businesses are having to nudge—or even pressure—their employees into using Copilot. Workers simply don’t feel the same pull toward Microsoft’s assistant as they do toward ChatGPT. This disconnect between corporate purchasing decisions and real-world usage is posing a challenge for Microsoft as it tries to translate enterprise deals into long-term product loyalty.
Struggles Coincide With Layoffs
Microsoft’s AI adoption challenges come at a tense moment for the company. In June 2025, Microsoft announced plans to cut between 6,000 and 7,000 jobs globally—about 3% of its workforce. This follows a previous round of 10,000 layoffs in 2023, which amounted to 5% of staff. While these cuts have not been directly tied to Copilot’s performance, they reflect broader pressures within the company as it adapts to rapid shifts in the tech landscape, especially around AI.
The AI Gap Between Home and Work
What’s unfolding is a clear divide in how AI tools are being adopted. ChatGPT’s huge success among consumers has spilled over into the workplace, where its ease of use and early familiarity continue to outweigh Copilot’s built-in integration with Microsoft products.
Even in companies that are heavily invested in Microsoft’s ecosystem, ChatGPT is proving hard to replace. Employees are often more motivated by what works best and what they’re already comfortable using, rather than what’s officially provided by their IT departments.
