Microsoft Weighs DeepSeek for Copilot Cowork, Shifts to Usage-Based Pricing

Microsoft is moving its enterprise AI agent feature "Copilot Cowork" to usage-based pricing while testing models from China's DeepSeek as a cheaper option to rein in costs. Axios reported on June 16, 2026 that Microsoft is evaluating a fine-tuned version of DeepSeek V4 and other open-source models, hosted on Azure, and expects to finalize and announce its choice within weeks.