AI has changed rapidly since Microsoft first introduced Bing Chat Enterprise in 2023. What began as a secure, workplace-ready chat tool has evolved into Microsoft Copilot, a unified AI assistant designed for modern business productivity. The original Bing Chat Enterprise branding has been retired, but the core capability remains available today through Copilot with commercial data protection.
In a time where organisations are seeking secure AI adoption without compromising compliance or data governance, understanding this transition is essential. This guide explains what Bing Chat Enterprise was, what replaced it, and how to safely adopt Microsoft’s latest enterprise AI tools.
Whether you’re evaluating licensing, exploring Copilot for business use cases, or assessing security, you will find practical answers here.
A Brief History of Bing Chat Enterprise
When Microsoft launched Bing Chat Enterprise in July 2023, the goal was simple: give businesses a secure way to use generative AI without exposing sensitive information. It was built on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model and provided the same conversational capabilities as consumer Bing Chat, but with one critical upgrade: commercial data protection.
This meant that prompts weren’t stored, weren’t used to train models, and were not accessible to Microsoft engineers. For organisations wary of consumer-grade AI tools, Bing Chat Enterprise represented the first clear path toward safe workplace AI adoption.
As Microsoft’s AI ecosystem matured, Bing Chat Enterprise became the technical foundation for Microsoft Copilot. Today, the same protections exist, but under a new, more powerful product family.
Related Reading: The Future of AI: How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the World
What Bing Chat Enterprise Has Become: Copilot with Commercial Data Protection
Bing Chat Enterprise is no longer offered as a standalone brand. It’s now part of Microsoft Copilot and is accessed through two main commercial paths. These two options offer different levels of capability, depending on whether you need secure web-based AI assistance or full access to organisational data.
- Copilot with commercial data protection: Included with many Microsoft 365 licences. It provides secure access to AI-powered web summarisation and research. It’s the direct replacement for Bing Chat Enterprise functionality.
- Copilot for Microsoft 365: A paid add-on that includes all the above security guarantees, plus full Microsoft Graph integration for enterprise-level features that work with your internal data across files, emails, meetings, and applications.
For businesses using Microsoft 365, this change is overwhelmingly positive. Copilot’s enterprise version provides:
- AI assistance under commercial data protection
- Integration with Microsoft 365 apps
- Access to organisational data through the Microsoft Graph
- More advanced reasoning via the latest GPT models
- Stronger access controls and security boundaries.
For businesses utilizing Microsoft 365, this change delivers significant advantages. Copilot’s enterprise versions offer stronger governance, deeper integration, and more advanced reasoning through the latest GPT models.
So, what happened to Bing Chat Enterprise? The answer is simple. It evolved into Copilot, with all security guarantees preserved and expanded.
If you need help understanding which Copilot version your organisation qualifies for, speak with our Microsoft experts.
How Microsoft Copilot Handles Commercial Data Protection
Security remains the defining feature of enterprise AI tools, and Microsoft has kept the strongest elements of Bing Chat Enterprise intact. With Copilot for business:
- Prompts can be manually added to the Prompt Gallery. Conversation history is generally retained if you are signed in
- Data is not used to train underlying AI models
- Customer chat data is not accessible to Microsoft engineers by default and is not used to train AI models. Any exceptional access is governed by strict security, legal, and contractual controls
- Organisational data stays within your Microsoft 365 tenant
- Every interaction is governed by the Microsoft 365 Data Protection Addendum
Note: Microsoft is increasingly referring to this entire security framework as Enterprise Data Protection (EDP), but the guarantees remain the same.
This means you can safely use AI to analyse documents, generate content, summarise meetings, research topics, or interpret internal data without risking leakage outside your organisation.
Many businesses still assume that AI tools automatically feed data back to the provider. In the case of Copilot, this is incorrect. It is designed specifically for confidential, regulated, and sensitive environments. So if your business is interested in artificial intelligence solutions, but you’re facing pushback from senior leaders, your organisational data is safer than they might assume.
Related Reading: Cyber Insurance Basics: What Every UK Business Needs to Know
What You Can Use Copilot for in Your Business
Copilot is more than a chat interface. It works across the Microsoft 365 suite and uses organisational data to generate relevant, contextual answers that improve productivity and reduce manual workload.
Businesses use Copilot for business to:
- Summarise long email threads
- Draft client and internal documents
- Turn meeting transcripts into action lists
- Analyse spreadsheets conversationally
- Build slide decks from existing content
- Rewrite and restructure documents
- Generate research summaries
- Support coding, scripts, and automations.
The transformative impact comes from how Copilot blends large language models with the Microsoft Graph. It understands your files, meetings, contacts, and task lists, allowing it to generate insights that a standalone chatbot cannot.
Visual Search: Now Built Directly Into Copilot
Microsoft also announced Visual Search during the early Inspire period, and it has since been fully integrated into Copilot. Users can upload images and ask questions about products, documents, diagrams, screenshots, charts, and landmarks. This capability dramatically improves speed and accuracy when working with physical assets or visual information.
For businesses, this is especially useful. Staff can photograph whiteboards, packaging, equipment, or paper documents and instantly generate summaries or find related information. A maintenance engineer, for example, can upload a photo of a pump and ask Copilot to locate internal repair documentation. Combined with Copilot’s understanding of organisational data, image-based queries become even more powerful.
Copilot Licensing: What UK Businesses Need to Know
Licensing has changed significantly since the Bing Chat Enterprise preview. Here’s what matters today.
- Copilot with commercial data protection included at no extra cost for users on many core Microsoft 365 licences, such as E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium.
- Copilot for Microsoft 365 requires an add-on licence per user, layered onto supported plans like Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, or E5.
- Copilot with commercial data protection remains available without a Copilot licence, but with reduced capabilities because it does not integrate with internal Microsoft 365 data.
- Not all staff require Copilot access, and licensing decisions should be based on workflows rather than job titles.
Many organisations overestimate how many users benefit from Copilot. A practical starting point is mapping processes and identifying roles where summarisation, automation, or content generation provides tangible value.
Related Reading: Cyber Essentials vs Cyber Essentials Plus: What’s Changing in 2026
Common Misconceptions About Bing Chat Enterprise and Copilot
Businesses often struggle to distinguish between consumer AI tools and the secure enterprise-grade versions available through Microsoft 365. These misunderstandings can create unnecessary concern or lead to poor decisions about how Copilot should be deployed. Here are the most common misconceptions and what they actually mean for your organisation.
Bing Chat Enterprise Is Still a Separate Product
Some users still believe Bing Chat Enterprise exists as a standalone tool, but Microsoft has fully absorbed it into Copilot’s enterprise experience. The same protections remain in place, but the branding and user interface have moved under the Copilot umbrella to provide one consistent, modern AI experience across Microsoft services.
All Versions of Copilot Offer Commercial Data Protection
Consumer-facing Copilot experiences do not include enterprise-level safeguards. Only Copilot with specified commercial data protection and Copilot for Microsoft 365 ensure that prompts are not saved, not used for training, and not accessible to Microsoft. This distinction is essential for safeguarding sensitive or regulated business data.
Using Copilot Means Microsoft Can See Our Data
This worry stems from the behaviour of public AI tools, but Copilot operates differently. In enterprise environments, prompts stay within your Microsoft 365 tenant and are protected by strict compliance and privacy controls. Microsoft engineers cannot access your content, and your data is never used to train AI models.
Everyone in the Organisation Needs a Licence
Copilot delivers the most value to staff who frequently work with documents, emails, meetings, or large volumes of information. Many employees do not need access, and licences should be assigned based on real workflows. A targeted rollout ensures you get maximum impact from your investment.
Copilot Replaces Staff or Entire Processes
Copilot improves efficiency, but it is not a replacement for human decision-making or specialist expertise. It accelerates repetitive, manual tasks, allowing teams to focus on higher-value work. The most successful organisations treat Copilot as an assistant, not a substitute for people or established processes.
Addressing these misconceptions early helps organisations adopt AI responsibly, align expectations across the business, and ensure Copilot is introduced in a way that delivers measurable value.
Why Nexus Helps You Deploy Copilot Safely and Effectively
Nexus has been a Microsoft partner for over 25 years, supporting hundreds of organisations across the UK. We help businesses adopt AI safely by integrating:
- Licensing guidance
- Security configuration
- Identity and access controls
- Usage policy creation
- Staff training and onboarding
- Ongoing optimisation and governance.
Deploying Copilot for business isn’t simply a license decision. It requires preparation, security controls, and clear processes so AI becomes a reliable part of your digital workplace.
Is Your Organisation Ready for Copilot?
If you’re unsure how Copilot fits into your environment, or whether you have the right licences, policies, and security in place, we can help. We offer a straightforward, no-pressure assessment that benchmarks your organisation’s readiness and highlights practical next steps.
Call 01392 205 095, or book a conversation with one of our Microsoft specialists.
Article Sources
- Microsoft. Introducing Bing Chat Enterprise, Microsoft 365 Copilot Pricing, and Microsoft Sales Copilot. July 18th, 2023
- Microsoft Learn. Office 365 Plan Options. Accessed December 5th, 2025
- Microsoft Learn. Overview of Microsoft Graph. Accessed December 5th, 2025