I have an MS 365 Family subscription - Why can't my spouse use our AI credits?

Question

I have an MS 365 Family Subscription and get 60 CoPilot AI credits monthly. However, my wife signs into her own MS Account so she can access her own storage, email, etc. Unfortunately because of this MS seems to prevent her from using our AI Credits. It seems that we have to be logged in as me to use them.

I understand why MS may have wanted to allow a subscriber to limit the sharing of the AI credits due to their usage limits, but isn't there any way for a subscriber to designate which "shared" account users are allowed to use the AI features? My wife is far more likely to need them, but I do use them from time-to-time as well.

Answer 1

Microsoft 365 Family and Premium subscriptions include AI features and AI credits, but those AI benefits are restricted to the subscription owner only and cannot be shared with other family members.

For Microsoft 365 Family/Premium:

• AI features like Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Designer are available only to the subscription owner.
• AI credits (for Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps, Designer, etc.) are also only available to the subscription owner.
• Family members can use the Microsoft 365 apps themselves, but not the AI features, even if they are part of the same Family subscription.

This is by design and there is currently no way to designate specific shared accounts (such as a spouse) to use the subscription owner’s AI credits. If another family member wants access to AI features and their own AI credits, they must have their own qualifying subscription (for example, Microsoft 365 Personal or Microsoft 365 Premium) associated with their own Microsoft account.

Note that when multiple Microsoft accounts are signed into the same app, AI benefits still belong only to the account that owns the eligible subscription; AI credits are counted against that owner’s subscription when Copilot is used, and they are not shared as a pool across family members.

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References:

• Learn more about sharing your Microsoft 365 Family or Premium subscription
• AI credits and limits for Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium
• How to use Copilot when signed in with one or more account
• Introducing Microsoft 365 Premium
• Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Microsoft 365 subscriptions

Answer 2

While I understand the AI Answer that it isn't currently possible to share AI Credits I find that answer really disappointing and even odd from a perspective of marketing and value. Why would I subscribe to a family plan and pay for services that only one family member can use? Again usage limits make sense and are reasonable knowing how AI works, but separating the AI service out of MS 365 subscriptions means that you should then make Co-Pilot a separate service and subscription. Prices for the product have gone up substantially in theory because AI is adding productivity, power, and cost to the product, but if it isn't providing that benefit to every user or at least every user that I as the paying customer want to share it with then why did my subscription rates go up in the first place?

Every person who owns a Windows based computer essentially must have their own MS account for most of the modern services to work properly for them. Good security practices also require that every user should be logging into their own account when using shared computers. So it seems counter productive to create a subscription based service that is linked to a person's MS account but that would require spouses or family members to share passwords and login credentials in order to use elements of a subscribed service. Really in the end by now allowing your subscribers to share all of the services included in their subscription you are defeating the very purpose of the Family Subscription or encouraging poor security practices.