Was any competitive procurement process undertaken before Microsoft Copilot became the primary generative AI tool used across the public service; if not, why not?

Answer

I am advised that Copilot licensing is available through the Microsoft Cloud, Software and Services Agreement (an All of Government contract established to provide agencies with access to Microsoft products and services). There has been no centralised decision for agencies to use Copilot. Agencies make their own decisions about which tools to use, and currently a range of different AI tools are being used across government.