DASH:GenCopilot in Power BI is Microsoft's generative AI inside Power BI Desktop and the service: it summarises reports, answers questions about a semantic model, writes DAX and can create report pages. DASH:Gen does something narrower and earlier: from an uploaded file and one sentence it writes a whole Power BI project, which you then open in Desktop.
| DASH:Gen | Copilot in Power BI | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Outside Power BI; you download the result | Inside Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service |
| What it needs | A browser; Power BI Desktop to open the result | Paid Fabric capacity (F2 or higher) or Power BI Premium (P1 or higher); in Desktop, write access to a workspace on such a capacity |
| Starting point | A data file: Excel, CSV and the other formats it reads, up to five related files | An existing semantic model or report |
| What it produces | A .pbip project or .pbit template: Power Query, the model with relationships, DAX measures and themed report pages | Summaries, answers, DAX queries, measure descriptions and report pages within your model |
| Connection to your tenant | None | Works in your tenant; an admin setting must allow it |
| What it costs to try | One Power BI dashboard a day without an account; then see the price list | Covered by the capacity your organisation pays for |
When Copilot is the better choice
When your organisation already runs a Fabric or Premium capacity and the model exists. Copilot works on the live model with your security in place, answers follow-up questions, and keeps working as the data changes. DASH:Gen produces a starting point once and has no part in what happens after you open it.
When DASH:Gen is the better choice
When there is no capacity, or no model yet: somebody has an Excel export and needs a first report. DASH:Gen writes the Power Query steps, the model, the measures and the pages and never connects to your tenant. The result is an ordinary project you edit in Desktop and save as a .pbix. The step-by-step guide shows each stage, and several related files become one model; see several CSVs as one Power BI model.
What leaves your machine
With DASH:Gen, your file is uploaded to build the project and kept for seven days; the language model receives column names, types, statistics and a few sample values, never the rows. Details are in the privacy notice. With Copilot, Microsoft's own privacy and security page for Copilot applies.
Checked on 2026-09-23: learn.microsoft.com.
Questions
What license or capacity does Copilot in Power BI need?
According to Microsoft's overview, a paid Fabric capacity (F2 or higher) or Power BI Premium (P1 or higher); trial capacities and free SKUs are not supported, and a Pro or Premium Per User licence alone is not enough.
What do I need to open what DASH:Gen generates?
Power BI Desktop, the free download from Microsoft. Publishing the report to the Power BI service afterwards follows your organisation's normal licensing.
Does DASH:Gen replace Copilot in Power BI?
No. Copilot answers questions about a model that already exists and works inside your tenant. DASH:Gen builds the first version of the model and report from a file, before there is anything for Copilot to work on.
Try it without an account
Three HTML dashboards, one Power BI report and one Apache Superset bundle a day need no sign-up and no card. No file to hand? Pick Sales under the drop zone.
Open DASH:Gen