Microsoft will pay to use Anthropic’s AI in its Office 365 applications, according to a report from The Information. The deal means Anthropic’s technology will help power new features in Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. This move ends Microsoft’s previous reliance solely on OpenAI for its productivity suite.
Microsoft’s decision to diversify its AI partnerships comes amid a growing rift with OpenAI. OpenAI has been pursuing its own infrastructure projects and is developing a potential competitor to LinkedIn. This new deal with Anthropic also coincides with Microsoft’s ongoing negotiations with OpenAI to secure access to its AI models following a pending for-profit restructuring. However, The Information reports that the Anthropic agreement is not a negotiating tactic. Microsoft leaders reportedly believe Anthropic’s latest models, specifically Claude Sonnet 4, perform better than OpenAI’s in certain functions, such as creating aesthetically pleasing PowerPoint presentations.
Meanwhile, OpenAI is also taking steps to operate more independently from Microsoft. Last week, OpenAI launched a new AI-powered jobs platform to compete with Microsoft’s LinkedIn. In a separate development, The Financial Times reported that OpenAI is set to begin mass production of its first AI chips in partnership with Broadcom in 2026. This initiative would allow OpenAI to run training and inference on its own controlled hardware, reducing its dependency on Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure. TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft and Anthropic for comment.