Microsoft May Use Anthropic's AI for Office 365, Lessen Reliance on OpenAI, Says New Reports

After a long time of only using OpenAI's technology, Microsoft is reportedly tapping another AI company to partner with to have their technology power its Office 365 Copilot offers to users.

The next company that Microsoft reportedly has in mind is Anthropic, the startup AI company that has already made a name for itself in the industry, particularly with its chatbot, Claude.

Microsoft May Use Anthropic's AI for Office 365 Copilot

The Information's latest report shares a new development in Microsoft's quest to grow its artificial intelligence capabilities, but this time, it reportedly wants to tap Anthropic's models to power Office 365's Copilot.

The report claims that Microsoft is already preparing for the massive changes in the coming weeks, with Anthropic's Claude models set to replace OpenAI's GPT models, which are currently active.

It has also been revealed that it would not yet be a significant adoption as Anthropic's Claude would only power some of Office 365 apps.

According to The Information, sources noted that Microsoft believes that Anthropic's Claude 4 Sonnet is performing better compared to OpenAI's latest large-language model, GPT-5.

In a test allegedly done by the company, it was revealed that an older Claude model produced a "more aesthetically pleasing" PowerPoint presentation compared to OpenAI's technology, according to Engadget.

What About Microsoft and OpenAI's Partnership?

According to the report, Microsoft claimed it still maintains that its partnership with OpenAI will continue. The AI company's models will reportedly still be used on Copilot and other technologies it is present in.

Engadget claims that this reported move by Microsoft implies that the split between them and OpenAI is already growing larger.

Microsoft, OpenAI's Long-Standing Relationship

Microsoft has been one of the longest-running and largest backers of Sam Altman's OpenAI, and when their three-year partnership elapsed in 2024, the Redmond-based tech company made a significant move to further the deal.

Last year, Microsoft pledged a $1 billion investment to OpenAI, effectively retaining its status as one of its biggest backers and continuing its long-standing partnership.

Google remains as one of the biggest rivals Microsoft has in the tech industry, and the latter's partnership with OpenAI looks to challenge the internet giant's dominance in its self-made AI growth.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai once challenged Microsoft to an AI duel where both companies would put their AI models side-by-side and have them perform different processes, but this never happened.

Despite the significant investments made by Microsoft in OpenAI, the company has still engaged with and backed other AI startups, including the controversial Builder.ai.

Reports later revealed that Builder.ai's chatbots are not what they seem to be, as they are 700 Indian employees who are only pretending to be the machine learning technology powered by its coders and engineers.