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Microsoft has begun integrating Anthropic’s AI models, Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1, into its Copilot assistant.
The new additions will first be made available on apps like Researcher and Microsoft Copilot Studio. Once users opt in to use Anthropic’s models, they will be able to switch between Claude and OpenAI’s models within these apps.
With this move, Anthropic becomes Microsoft’s first Copilot AI partner outside OpenAI. Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI, but it had indicated earlier this year that it would be looking at options beyond the ChatGPT-maker as well. There have also been reports about growing tensions between the two companies, with Microsoft even calling OpenAI a rival in AI and search.
The new partnership reduces Microsoft’s dependency on OpenAI, but the latter’s models will continue to be the default on Microsoft 365 Copilot.
“Copilot will continue to be powered by OpenAI’s latest models, and now our customers will have the flexibility to use Anthropic models too,” said Charles Lamanna, president of Microsoft’s business and industry Copilot team.
“The addition of Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1 advances our commitment to bring the best AI innovation from across the industry to Microsoft 365 Copilot, tuned for work and tailored to your business needs.”
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Researcher, as the name suggests, lets you gather, analyze, and summarize information. Copilot Studio, on the other hand, lets you build AI agents.
In Researcher, Claude started rolling out on Wednesday through the Frontier Program for Microsoft 365 Copilot-licensed customers. In Copilot Studio, it’s currently available for customers in early release cycle environments and will be made available for preview in all environments in the next two weeks.
Use of Claude models in both these products is subject to approval from your organization’s admin. Additionally, Microsoft warns that Anthropic’s models are hosted on Amazon’s cloud service. So if users choose to opt in, they will be agreeing to Anthropic’s terms of service and data handling policies.
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Jibin is a tech news writer based out of Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of iGeeksBlog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a broader audience.
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