Microsoft is expanding its AI partnerships by integrating models from Anthropic, a chief rival of OpenAI, into its Copilot assistant. This integration begins on Wednesday and marks a significant step in the gradual separation between Microsoft and OpenAI, which were once exclusive partners.
The move follows a recent deal where Microsoft agreed to use Anthropic’s AI within Office 365 applications like Word, Excel, and Outlook. For Copilot business users, this update introduces a choice of AI models. They can now select between OpenAI’s deep reasoning models and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1 or Claude Sonnet 4 for specific tasks.
These tasks include complex research and the development of custom AI tools and enterprise-grade agents. The Claude Opus 4.1 model is engineered for advanced challenges such as complex reasoning, coding, and deep architectural planning. In contrast, the Claude Sonnet 4 model is better suited for routine development duties, large-scale data processing, and content generation.