OpenAI put ChatGPT inside Microsoft Word. Free accounts get it too.
OpenAI launched the add-in on 17 September. The same add-in works in Excel and PowerPoint, on every ChatGPT plan, with usage limits. In OpenAI's demo, the sidebar reformats a client contract to match a template, then rewrites the payment terms with tracked changes. OpenAI's own documentation says complex formatting may need manual correction. The same applies to charts and tables.
That puts two assistants in one window. Microsoft already sells Copilot inside the same applications, a direct overlap, Runtime Wire noted.
For IT, the detail that matters is control. Employees can install it from Microsoft Marketplace and sign in with a ChatGPT account, including a personal one. Microsoft 365 administrators decide whether the add-in is allowed at all. OpenAI says inputs from Business and Enterprise plans are not used for training by default, and the same applies to Edu. Business and Enterprise plans get a free GPT-5.6 Sol preview in Word until 30 September.
🎥 Video: OpenAI, official YouTube channel, 17 Sep 2026 · narration: AI voice
Is the add-in allowed in your tenant today, and did anyone decide that?
What the captions say
- ChatGPT now works inside Microsoft Word.
- In OpenAI's demo it reformats a contract.
- Then it rewrites payment terms, changes tracked.
- Every plan gets it, including Free.
- Copilot sits in the same window. Admins control both.
