Microsoft (MSFT) will start using Anthropic’s artificial intelligence models in Office 365 apps. The company already works with OpenAI but will now blend both technologies into Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint. According to a report from The Information, developers found Anthropic’s latest model, Claude Sonnet 4, worked better than OpenAI in some areas. It was especially strong in automating financial tasks in Excel and creating PowerPoint slides based on written commands.
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This move does not mean Microsoft is ending its work with OpenAI. Instead, it shows the company is spreading its use of AI suppliers to get the best results. Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI, which continues to power many of its Copilot features. A company spokesperson said OpenAI will stay its main partner for frontier models.
Expanding the AI Portfolio
Meanwhile, Microsoft is building its own set of AI models called MAI. The group includes MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-1-preview, which were introduced in August. These projects show that MSFT aspires to reduce its dependence on outside firms. Moreover, the company has tested models from other groups such as DeepSeek, Meta (META), and xAI. This approach enables Microsoft to match different models with different business uses.
There is also a notable detail about how the new plan will work. Microsoft will pay to access Anthropic’s models through Amazon Web Services (AMZN), which is a rival in the cloud market. Amazon is also one of Anthropic’s largest shareholders. Even so, the cost for Office 365 users will remain unchanged, and the new AI tools will be included in the same price plan.
Is MSFT Stock a Buy?
Microsoft continues to hold a bullish view among the Street’s analysts with a Strong Buy consensus. The average MSFT stock price target stands at $628.38, implying a 26.08% upside from the current price.
