Microsoft Expands AI Offerings in Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft has announced the integration of Anthropic’s AI models, Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1, into its Microsoft 365 Copilot, effective today. This strategic move enhances the AI capabilities available to Microsoft’s customers, allowing them to access Anthropic models within Researcher and Microsoft Copilot Studio, reports 24brussels.
The addition marks a significant shift as it broadens the model selection beyond OpenAI’s offerings. “Copilot will continue to be powered by OpenAI’s latest models, and now our customers will have the flexibility to use Anthropic models too — starting in Researcher or when building agents in Microsoft Copilot Studio,” said Charles Lamanna, president of Microsoft’s business and industry Copilot team. He emphasized that this development affirms Microsoft’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge AI innovations tailored to business needs.
The Researcher agent will now have the ability to utilize either OpenAI’s deep reasoning models or Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1. Users will notice a new “Try Claude” button located at the top of the Microsoft 365 Copilot app, granting them access to Opus 4.1. Lamanna stated, “Once you opt-in, you’ll be able to switch between OpenAI and Anthropic models in Researcher with ease.”
Both Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1 will also become available options in Copilot Studio, Microsoft’s platform designed for developing AI agents. Lamanna explained that this launch allows users to build, orchestrate, and manage agents using Anthropic models for various applications, including deep reasoning and workflow automation. Users will have the flexibility to specify which models to employ for particular tasks, mixing options from Anthropic, OpenAI, and other models in Azure’s model catalog.
The rollout of Claude in Researcher is happening today as part of Microsoft’s Frontier program, available to Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers who choose to participate. Additionally, users of Copilot Studio can opt-in for access to the Claude models.
Notably, Anthropic’s AI models will continue to be hosted on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s primary cloud competitor. Microsoft accesses Claude through the Anthropic API, similar to other developers. There are expectations that Microsoft may soon finalize an arrangement for hosting Anthropic’s models on its Azure platform, following a previous deal with xAI.
This announcement comes just a week after Microsoft began favoring Anthropic over OpenAI for its Visual Studio Code. GitHub Copilot users are currently reported to “primarily rely on Claude Sonnet 4” with the Visual Studio Code editor’s updated model selection feature.
Reports also indicate that Microsoft plans to deploy Anthropic’s AI models in Excel and PowerPoint, highlighting their superior performance compared to OpenAI’s models. Lamanna remarked, “This is just the beginning — we’re committed to delivering model innovation at speed. Stay tuned: Anthropic models will bring even more powerful experiences to Microsoft 365 Copilot.”
