Prime Highlight
- Microsoft has launched a unified platform, Microsoft Marketplace, combining its AI marketplaces for businesses to simplify access to AI tools.
- The new marketplace allows corporate customers to purchase apps using existing Microsoft billing accounts while ensuring safety, compliance, and secure integration with Microsoft products.
Key Facts
- Microsoft will not take commissions on apps, instead earning from publishing fees and developers’ use of Microsoft cloud services.
- The marketplace rollout begins in the U.S. and will expand globally in the coming weeks and months.
Background
Microsoft has combined its separate AI marketplaces for businesses into a single platform called Microsoft Marketplace, the company announced on Thursday. The unified marketplace aims to simplify access to artificial intelligence tools for corporate technology buyers.
Previously, Microsoft maintained one marketplace for Azure developer tools and another for AI applications and agents, tools that perform tasks on behalf of users. Starting Thursday in the United States, the new marketplace will roll out globally in the coming weeks and months.
The Microsoft Marketplace will streamline apps and services for easy integration with existing Microsoft products. Corporate customers can purchase apps using their existing Microsoft billing accounts, simplifying payments and accounting, said Alysa Taylor, Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer for commercial cloud and AI.
Microsoft will not take any commission on apps, unlike consumer app stores. Instead, it collects a publishing fee for listings and earns from developers’ use of Microsoft cloud services.
The safety and compliance review will be conducted to ensure that all apps are compliant and safe enough to be listed. This enables corporations to have command over corporate information that is consumed by AI programs.
The launch of the unified marketplace reflects Microsoft’s focus on making AI tools more accessible and secure for corporate users while supporting the growth of AI applications across its cloud ecosystem.
