This is ridiculous, and an obvious money grab, notifying us with an email that has no explanation of why the increase was occurring and so close to our renewal dates.
To switch to the classic plan without the price increase for the AI Co-Pilot features:
-Login to your MS account.
-Click manage subscriptions
-Then hit cancel (as if you are going to cancel your subscription) and it will bring you to a screen with an option for the MS 365 Classic version and show you info about switching to the classic plan without the AI.
-Click - switch plan.
You now have the same pricing as last year. (Or monthly). Wahoo!
-Go back to enjoying your day!