If Copilot becomes more widespread, it might also force regulators to adopt more friendly regulations that would favor it, lowering the expected legal expenses. So this move by Microsoft might just be the bootstrapping they need to get this dynamic going.

Microsoft is going all in. They want to have hundreds of millions of subscribers. They want everyone who is using Visual Studio Code for a business to use Copilot. With enough uptake, it could be a billion dollar business.

>> Software lawsuits can become multi-billion dollar expenses

Microsoft has teams of top lawyers and they are rolling the dice that there will not be enough lawsuits to justify the risk.

>> My confusion is more over the balance of revenue and expenses than just "derp, me no understand why do companies do things to make money, derp"

If you want more precise answers, ask more precise questions.

Your confusion come from your mis-assessment of the actual risks. Microsoft engaged with tons of lawyers and legal experts and determined there is basically no risk at all taking this stance.

You think there is a very real risk that the AI output is copyright infringement while Microsoft's deep analysis says the opposite; that's the mismatch.