Microsoft intends to integrate Anthropic’s artificial intelligence technologies into its Copilot service, in an attempt to capitalize on the growing demand for intelligent, autonomous agents. This move comes weeks after Anthropic launched new tools, which raised fears of a sell-off in software company stocks.
On Monday, Microsoft unveiled the Copilot Cowork tool, which is built on the Claude Cowork service developed by Anthropic, which has gained widespread popularity in Silicon Valley for its ability to accomplish complex tasks such as creating applications, designing spreadsheets, and organizing large amounts of data with minimal human intervention.
Microsoft relies on its strong relationship with corporate customers and its focus on security and data controls to attract companies wishing to use artificial intelligence agents, but at the same time it is keen to avoid deploying these technologies without adequate guarantees.
Jared Spataro, responsible for artificial intelligence initiatives in the work environment at Microsoft, said that the company only operates within a cloud environment and works on behalf of the user, which allows knowing precisely what information the tool can access.
He added that the “Cloud Cowork” service only works locally on the device, which raises concerns for many companies, noting that Microsoft’s approach is different in this regard.
The launch of the tool comes weeks after Anthropic announced new tools for the “Claude” model, which increased investor concern about the threat that artificial intelligence agents may pose to traditional software companies, and led to a sell-off in the sector, with shares of “Microsoft” itself falling by about 9% during the month of February.
“Microsoft” explained that the “Copilot Cowork” tool is currently undergoing testing, and is scheduled to be available to users within the early access program later this month.
The company did not disclose pricing, but stated that some uses will be part of the “M365 Copilot” subscription for businesses, which is $30 per user per month, with the ability to purchase additional uses.
Microsoft also announced the availability of the latest “Claude Sonnet” models from Anthropic to “M365 Copilot” users, after the service previously relied only on “GPT” models of the “OpenAI” company.
This move reflects Microsoft’s deepening relationship with Anthropic, at a time when investors are questioning the extent of the company’s reliance on OpenAI, which represents about 45% of Microsoft’s future cloud computing services contracts. (seventh day)
