Javier Pastor
Senior WriterComputer scientist turned tech journalist. I've written about almost everything related to technology, but I specialize in hardware, operating systems and cryptocurrencies. I like writing about tech so much that I do it both for Xataka and Incognitosis, my personal blog. LinkedIn
Microsoft surprised users by offering free access to OpenAI’s o1 reasoning model through Copilot. Previously, users had to pay $20 per month for Copilot Pro or the same amount for ChatGPT Plus to access this option. Unlimited use required the $200 monthly ChatGPT Pro plan.
Microsoft calls o1 “Think Deeper” in its services, but this is simply the integration of the OpenAI model into its platform. Mustafa Suleyman, head of Microsoft’s AI division, announced the change this week.
This shift is undoubtedly due to DeepSeek-R1, which provides a strong alternative to o1. It’s available on the web—Perplexity offers it in its “Labs” and calls it “Sonar Reasoning”—but it can also be installed locally in a compact version. Microsoft even says users can run it on Copilot+ PCs without issues.
Microsoft, responding to the surging interest in DeepSeek-R1, announced this week that it has integrated the new AI model into Azure AI Foundry and GitHub, giving companies and developers more opportunities to leverage its capabilities.
It’s a logical but unexpected move. Typically, Microsoft takes longer to add new models to its platform, but DeepSeek-R1’s popularity accelerated the timeline.
This is good news for users, who can now access o1 / Think Deeper for free, further fueling competition between reasoning models.
Image | Microsoft
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