US House of Representatives to start using Microsoft Copilot, Axios reports

It’s been just a few days since AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic announced to offer enterprise AI services to the U.S. government for just $1. Microsoft jumped into the boat by announcing that Copilot will be made free for U.S. government workers.

Now, according to an exclusive report from Axios, The House of Representatives will start rolling out Microsoft Copilot soon. The news outlet notes that The House will be using the technology to modernize its operations and the legislative process.

So, how will The House use Copilot? The chamber will reportedly start with a limited rollout, giving staff in each office access to Copilot. As Axios notes, testing began back in June, with early adoption scheduled for this month.

Going forward, senior staff and leadership will also have access to Copilot. The report also mentions that over the next year, as many as 6,000 licenses will be made available. Unlike standard Copilot products, The House version will apparently have “heightened legal and data protections” to ensure compliance with federal standards.

The report further mentions that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will reportedly announce the initiative during the Congressional Hackathon scheduled for today.

This is interesting given that Microsoft’s Copilot was banned last year from all of the U.S. Congress’s Windows devices. But, slowly, governments around the globe, including in the US, are showing confidence in AI tech, as they are tracking its development closely.

Moreover, an email from The House CAO, Catherine Szpindor, spotted by Axios, suggests The House is also reviewing and even testing Enterprise AI offerings from other AI giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, and more.

Governments around the globe are now increasingly collaborating with U.S. tech giants to bolster their AI infrastructure. Yesterday, Microsoft committed $30 billion in AI investment in the UK, while NVIDIA pledged $11 billion to build out AI infrastructure in the country. On the same day, OpenAI also announced a Stargate UK partnership, which will give Britain sovereign AI computing power.