The Information websiteReports allegeMicrosoft is preparing to announce in the coming weeks that it will import Anthropic's latest Claude model into some Copilot features of Office 365, gradually replacing the existing technology foundation that relies entirely on OpenAI. This means that AI assistants for application services such as Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint will be supported by both OpenAI GPT-5 and Anthropic Claude in the future, thereby improving the user experience in different scenarios.
This news was interpreted by the outside world as a possible "rift" between Microsoft and OpenAI.
Microsoft is currently OpenAI's largest investor and played a key role in securing Sam Altman's return as OpenAI CEO following his brief ouster in 2023. However, recent negotiations between the two parties regarding OpenAI's plan to restructure its for-profit division into a public benefit corporation appear to have hit a roadblock, leading to speculation that the partnership may be cooling.
Microsoft emphasized that this decision was not due to friction or dissatisfaction with OpenAI, but rather a strategy to select the best model for different application scenarios. A Microsoft spokesperson later responded to The Information, emphasizing that they will continue to cooperate with OpenAI and use its advanced models as a foundation.
It is worth noting that the report quoted sources as saying that one of the reasons why Microsoft decided to introduce Claude was that it believed that Claude 4 Sonnet was superior to GPT-5 in some subtle but important performance aspects, such as being able to generate more beautiful PowerPoint presentations, thereby improving user satisfaction with the Copilot service.
On the other hand, Claude 4 Sonnet is not Anthropic's flagship model, which may mean that Microsoft may still be interested in evaluating the feasibility of a subsequent more powerful Claude Opus or introducing an updated version.
While Microsoft's agreement with OpenAI gives it access to the GPT series of models at no additional cost, adopting Claude 4 means having to pay to access the Anthropic model through AWS. Despite this, reports indicate that Microsoft will maintain the price of Office 365 Copilot at $30 per user per month, with no additional charges for the Claude integration.
From an industry perspective, Microsoft's move may be part of a diversified AI strategy. It aims to avoid over-reliance on a single supplier, while also providing Copilot users with a richer AI experience and maintaining flexibility in its collaborations with Anthropic and OpenAI, two major generative AI technology companies.
