European Microsoft Copilot alternative
for regulated industries.
For legal, finance, healthcare and public-sector teams that cannot route confidential prompts through US clouds. EU controller. Intel TDX sealing. Native Article 28 DPA. Plans from $20/mo to $5,000+/mo.
We do not bash Microsoft. Copilot is genuinely strong on Office integration. We replace it where regulated work is at stake, and pair with it everywhere else.
01, Why EU teams move regulated workloads off Copilot
Four procurement frictions, factually stated.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a strong product and Microsoft has invested heavily in EU compliance, EU Data Boundary, GDPR DPA, Microsoft Purview governance. None of that is in dispute. The frictions below are residual exposures that DPOs in regulated sectors consistently flag, and that procurement teams hit when documenting a defensible record of processing for sensitive workloads.
CLOUD Act reach into EU regions
In the May 2023 hearing before the French Senate, Microsoft France's legal director confirmed under oath that the US CLOUD Act applies to Microsoft regardless of which Azure region stores the data. EU Data Boundary commitments narrow the surface, but they do not extinguish the legal reach over the parent company.
Schrems II and DPF uncertainty
The EU-US Data Privacy Framework is the current legal basis for Microsoft data flows. It is also the third such framework (after Safe Harbor and Privacy Shield, both struck down) and is already under challenge at the CJEU. DPOs in regulated sectors are advised to plan for invalidation.
Processor-not-controller posture
Under the Microsoft Online Services Terms, Microsoft acts as processor for customer-supplied data but reserves controller rights for diagnostic, telemetry and service-improvement data. For workloads that demand a clean Article 28 processor analysis, this dual posture creates negotiation friction.
No hardware sealing in the standard offer
Standard Microsoft 365 Copilot does not run inference inside an Intel TDX or AMD SEV-SNP enclave. The Microsoft hypervisor and ops staff are inside the trust boundary. Azure Confidential Computing exists as a separate product line, but it is not what powers the standard Copilot inference path.
Sources: French Senate hearing of Microsoft France, May 2023, confirmed CLOUD Act applicability; Microsoft Online Services Terms (current); Microsoft Trust Center EU Data Boundary documentation. CJEU C-311/18 (Schrems II) precedent.
02, Our answer
EU controller plus Intel TDX hardware sealing.
VoltageGPU is operated by VOLTAGE EI, a French SAS (SIREN 943 808 824). Every confidential inference session runs inside an Intel TDX enclave on TDX-equipped GPU hosts named in the European Union. Memory is encrypted with AES-256 keys fused into the CPU silicon; the hypervisor and our own ops staff are outside the trust boundary. Each session can emit an ECDSA-signed attestation report verifiable against Intel's root key. The GDPR Article 28 Data Processing Agreement is the default contract on every plan, not an enterprise upgrade.
EU controller, EU compute
VOLTAGE EI is a French sole proprietorship (SIREN 943 808 824, Solaize, France) and the customer database is EU-hosted (Frankfurt). Confidential inference runs inside Intel TDX trust domains on a GPU provider named in the DPA, which sits outside the trust domain and holds no key to your enclave memory.
Intel TDX hardware sealing
Memory is encrypted with AES-256 keys fused into the CPU silicon. The hypervisor and host operator are outside the trust boundary. A compelled disclosure order targeting our infrastructure cannot read the contents of an active session.
Per-session attestation
Every confidential session can emit an ECDSA-signed attestation report including the measurement of the running enclave image. The signature is verifiable against Intel's root key, independently of us.
Native Article 28 DPA
A GDPR-compliant Data Processing Agreement is the default contract on every plan. Solo, Pro, and Enterprise. No paid tier required to obtain processor-grade contractual posture.
Zero training, zero retention
Prompts are not logged, not used for training, not retained beyond the conversation window you control. There is no tenant-level toggle to turn this on or off, it is the only mode we operate.
256K context on flagship
Qwen3.5-397B-TEE runs with a 256K-token context inside the enclave. Long contracts, full deal data rooms, multi-jurisdiction regulatory bundles, and complete codebases fit in a single sealed session.
03, Side-by-side comparison
VoltageGPU vs Microsoft 365 Copilot vs Copilot for Sales vs GitHub Copilot Business.
| FEATURE | VoltageGPU | M365 Copilot | Copilot for Sales | GitHub Copilot Business |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Controller jurisdiction | France (EU) | United States | United States | United States |
| CLOUD Act / FISA 702 exposure | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware sealing (Intel TDX) | Yes, every session | No (standard tier) | No | No |
| Per-session attestation report | ECDSA-signed, verifiable | No | No | No |
| Native GDPR Art. 28 DPA | Default on every plan | Microsoft DPA (negotiated) | Microsoft DPA | Microsoft DPA |
| Training-data isolation | Zero training, zero retention | No training on tenant data | No training on tenant data | Opt-out required (Business) |
| Office ribbon integration depth | Connectors + API (not native) | Native, deep | Native (Sales surfaces) | IDE-native (VS Code, JetBrains) |
| Audit logs & lineage evidence | Full per-prompt + attestation | Microsoft Purview (extra license) | Purview | GitHub audit log |
| Entry pricing | $20/mo individual | $30/user/mo + M365 license | $50/user/mo | $19/user/mo |
| Mid-market plan | $1,199-$3,499/mo | Per-seat × team size | Per-seat × team size | $39/user/mo (Enterprise) |
Sources: Microsoft 365 Copilot product page and Microsoft Learn documentation; GitHub Copilot Business privacy and trust documentation; Microsoft Trust Center EU Data Boundary. Comparison reflects the standard product configuration at time of writing. Microsoft offers Confidential Computing as a separate product line not analysed here.
04, Migration paths
Honest mapping. Where parity is partial, we say so.
Native ribbon integration in Word and Excel, in-call Teams summarisation, and Microsoft Graph context across the M365 tenant are surfaces Microsoft owns end-to-end. We replace them where the underlying inference layer is the issue (jurisdiction, sealing), and we are explicit about where the user experience is partial parity rather than full parity.
Coming from
Copilot in Word (drafting, rewriting, summarising)
VoltageGPU equivalent
VoltageGPU web UI + Office add-in
Drafting and rewriting flows are matched. The native ribbon experience is replaced with a side-panel add-in connected via OpenAI-compatible API. Honest assessment: UX feels slightly less integrated, payoff is hardware-sealed inference.
Coming from
Copilot in Excel (formulas, data analysis, charting)
VoltageGPU equivalent
VoltageGPU + Excel add-in + Code Interpreter agent
Formula generation, data summarisation and chart suggestion are supported. Native cross-workbook context that Copilot has via Microsoft Graph is not fully replicated; we read explicit ranges instead.
Coming from
Copilot in Teams (meeting recap, action items)
VoltageGPU equivalent
VoltageGPU Meeting Brief agent (post-meeting)
We accept Teams transcripts (or any meeting transcript) and produce recap + action items + decisions. We do not run live in-call as Copilot does inside Teams.
Coming from
Copilot for Sales (CRM next-best-action)
VoltageGPU equivalent
VoltageGPU Sales Research + Pipeline Intelligence agents
CRM-connected agents over API. Native Dynamics 365 / Salesforce embed surfaces are not replicated.
Coming from
Copilot Studio (low-code agent builder)
VoltageGPU equivalent
Confidential Agents platform (BYOA + templates)
Multi-step agent composition over private data, hardware-sealed. Closest functional equivalent we offer.
Coming from
GitHub Copilot Business (code completion, chat)
VoltageGPU equivalent
DeepSeek-Coder-TEE via OpenAI-compatible API
IDE plugins via Continue.dev, Cursor BYOK, Cline, Aider. No native VS Code Copilot UI; alternative IDE-native paths instead.
05, Use cases
Where regulated teams actually deploy the alternative.
Legal
Privileged contract review without US-cloud exposure
In-house counsel and law firms route NDA review, M&A due diligence, and litigation document analysis through hardware-sealed Qwen3.5-397B-TEE. Privilege analysis stays inside the enclave. The Microsoft Copilot path through OpenAI infrastructure is replaced for the regulated workflow.
Legal AI agentsFinance
Financial close, KYC, regulatory reporting
Finance teams run quarterly close memos, KYC document analysis, and DORA-aligned operational resilience reporting on confidential inference. Customer PII and material non-public information stay inside a hardware-sealed enclave with attestation evidence on demand for the auditor.
DORA AI complianceHealthcare
Clinical documentation under HDS-aligned controls
Clinical scribes, discharge summaries, and patient-record assistance run on Qwen3.5-397B-TEE with TDX sealing. The architecture supports the operational requirements that HDS-certified providers and large hospital groups apply on top of GDPR, an architectural fit that the standard Copilot path does not match.
GDPR AI compliancePublic sector
Sovereign drafting for ministries and agencies
Public-sector teams evaluating Microsoft 365 Copilot under SecNumCloud, NIS2 and France's "doctrine cloud au centre" use VoltageGPU as the sovereign-grade fallback for sensitive drafting, briefing summaries, and inter-service correspondence that cannot tolerate US-jurisdiction reach.
NIS2 AI complianceEngineering
GitHub Copilot Business replacement for regulated codebases
Banks, defense contractors, and public-sector engineering teams that cannot route proprietary or classified source code through GitHub's US infrastructure use DeepSeek-Coder-TEE through our OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint, integrated with Continue.dev, Cursor (BYOK), Cline, and Aider.
Sovereign agentic AI06, Pricing
From individual at $20/mo to dedicated tenancy at $5,000+/mo.
Plus
Individual sovereign-AI access
- Qwen3.5-397B-TEE (256K context)
- Per-session attestation
- Native GDPR Art. 28 DPA
Starter
Small team / single department
- Up to 3 seats
- Office add-in connectors
- Workflow templates
Pro
Up to 10 seats with API
- OpenAI-compatible API
- DeepSeek-V3.2-TEE reasoning
- Custom agents
Enterprise
Mid-market / regulated industry
- SSO + SCIM
- Dedicated account
- Pilot programme
Sovereign
Public sector / dedicated tenancy
- Single-tenant TDX cluster
- On-soil compute by request
- Custom DPA + audit support
Microsoft 365 Copilot reference price: $30/user/month with annual commitment, on top of an existing M365 E3/E5 license. Copilot for Sales: $50/user/month. GitHub Copilot Business: $19/user/month, Enterprise $39/user/month. Source: Microsoft and GitHub pricing pages at time of writing.
07, FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Is Microsoft 365 Copilot illegal in the EU?
No. With the appropriate Microsoft DPA, EU Data Boundary configuration, and a customer-side DPIA, Microsoft 365 Copilot is contractually defensible for many enterprises. The friction is residual risk under CLOUD Act reach and Schrems II uncertainty, plus the lack of hardware-sealed inference in the standard tier. Whether that residual risk is acceptable is a workload-by-workload decision your DPO needs to make. We provide an alternative for the workloads where the answer is no.
Where is Microsoft Copilot genuinely better?
Three places, honestly. First, native Office ribbon integration, Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams is the result of Microsoft owning every layer of the surface and is genuinely strong. Second, Microsoft Graph context, pulling from your full M365 tenant (mail, calendar, files) without manual connector wiring. Third, in-call live Teams summarisation. We do not pretend to match these. Our value is on the inference layer (jurisdiction + hardware sealing) and on agents over private data, not Office UX parity.
Does VoltageGPU connect to Microsoft 365 / SharePoint?
Yes, on Pro and Enterprise. We provide connectors for SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Outlook (Graph API) and Teams transcripts. SSO is via SAML or OIDC against Entra ID (Azure AD). We do not run inside the Microsoft tenant, we read from it via authenticated API calls and process inside our TDX enclaves.
Can we run a hybrid setup with both Microsoft Copilot and VoltageGPU?
That is what most regulated customers do. Microsoft 365 Copilot stays for general productivity (drafting on non-sensitive content, internal communications, marketing collateral). VoltageGPU handles the regulated workflows where the residual CLOUD Act / hardware-sealing risk profile of Copilot is unacceptable. A simple data-classification policy plus a routing layer at the team level is sufficient, no rip-and-replace.
What about Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service inside the EU Data Boundary?
Azure OpenAI in EU regions narrows the data flow but does not change the underlying CLOUD Act exposure for Microsoft as the controller of the cloud, and does not introduce hardware sealing into the standard inference path. Azure Confidential Computing with TDX exists as a separate offering, but it is a customer-managed VM product, not the inference layer behind Copilot. The architectural delta to VoltageGPU remains: we are an EU controller running TDX-sealed inference natively, with attestation evidence on request.
Is the underlying model quality comparable to GPT-4 / GPT-4o behind Copilot?
On open benchmarks the open frontier models we run inside the enclave (Qwen3.5-397B-TEE, DeepSeek-V3.2-TEE, DeepSeek-Coder-TEE) are within striking distance of GPT-4 / GPT-4o on most general tasks, and DeepSeek-V3.2-TEE specifically scores competitively on reasoning. On legal-domain reasoning and code generation, the gap is small to nil. We trade a small amount of marginal capability for hardware confidentiality. For regulated work, that trade is the right one.
Do you offer a managed pilot for an enterprise procurement evaluation?
Yes. We run 30-day pilots scoped to a specific workflow, for example, NDA review on the legal team, quarterly close memo generation in finance, or a GitHub Copilot Business replacement for one engineering squad. Weekly check-ins, a written technical due-diligence pack including the attestation evidence, and a clean exit path if you decide to stay on Microsoft.
Where do we go to verify the enclave evidence?
The /trust page on app.voltagegpu.com shows live attestation reports and the verification procedure against Intel's root key. Pro and Enterprise customers receive per-session attestation evidence on request. Independent verification is supported, we publish what we run and the measurement values that should appear in the report.
Run a 30-day pilot on one regulated workflow.
Pick the workflow that procurement keeps flagging, privileged contract review, quarterly close memo, or a GitHub Copilot Business swap on one squad. We scope it, run it, and you keep Microsoft Copilot for everything else.