The news: Microsoft is reducing its reliance on OpenAI by bringing in rival Anthropic to power key enterprise features, per The Information.

The Microsoft-Anthropic deal ends the productivity giant’s exclusive dependence on OpenAI to power AI-driven features within Microsoft 365.

OpenAI will still power some features, but more advanced tasks will be enabled by Anthropic’s AI. Pricing for 365’s AI tools will stay at $30 per user per month.

What it means: While tensions in OpenAI and Microsoft’s partnership have grown, partially due to the former’s intended move away from a nonprofit structure, the decision was based on Anthropic’s merits and wasn't a negotiating tactic, per The Information.

Still, the deal could weaken OpenAI’s grip on enterprise software.

Microsoft leaders found that Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 outperforms OpenAI’s models—including the recently released GPT-5—on crucial productivity tasks like building PowerPoint decks and executing financial functions in Excel, per The Information.

Anthropic, still an underdog compared with OpenAI, will gain a huge new audience by tapping into 365’s 430 million paid users.

Zooming out: Microsoft’s move extends its broader strategy of diversifying away from OpenAI. The Big Tech giant already offers alternative models, such as xAI’s Grok and Anthropic’s Claude, through GitHub Copilot.

Last month, it debuted its first in-house AI models—MAI-1-Preview and MAI-Voice-1—proving its ability to build top-tier AI independently.

Looking ahead: OpenAI faces mounting pressure to prove its worth to enterprise customers while reducing reliance on business from Microsoft.

Some recent steps toward independence:

• The AI firm is planning a jobs platform to rival LinkedIn and is reportedly working to develop its own server chips and facilities. Those moves could enable OpenAI to eventually offer cloud servers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) does, per CFO Sarah Friar.
• Its $1.3 billion acquisition of product-testing startup Statsig could accelerate development of productivity apps or office software.

Our take: With 365’s entrenched position in productivity software, Anthropic’s integration could shift enterprise adoption trends away from OpenAI. If Anthropic gains traction, OpenAI risks losing one of its strongest distribution channels and with it, its influence on how AI is embedded in daily workflows.

Marketers should watch to see not just who wins contracts, but who defines the next generation of workplace software.

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