Microsoft Taps Anthropic for Copilot Cowork in Push for AI Agents

Microsoft is adding Anthropic's AI technology to its Copilot service to tap growing demand for autonomous agents, weeks after the startup's ​new tools sparked a selloff in software stocks. The company on ‌Monday unveiled Copilot Cowork, a tool based on Anthropic's viral Claude Cowork offering, which has captivated Silicon Valley with its ability to handle complex tasks such as creating apps, building ​spreadsheets and organising large volumes of data with limited human oversight.

Microsoft ​is betting that its long-standing ties with enterprise customers and its ⁠focus on security and data controls will help it win business from ​companies interested in AI agents but wary of deploying them without safeguards.

"We ​work only in a cloud environment and we work only on behalf of the user. So you know exactly what information it (Copilot Cowork) has access to," Jared Spataro, who ​leads Microsoft's AI-at-Work efforts, told Reuters.

Cloud Cowork only works locally on the device ​and most companies feel "very uncomfortable" with that, he said. “We're the opposite.”

The launch comes weeks after ‌Anthropic ⁠introduced new tools for Claude that intensified investor concerns about the threat AI agents could pose to traditional software companies, triggering to a selloff in the sector. Microsoft's own shares fell nearly 9% in February.

Copilot Cowork tool is currently ​in testing and will be ​available to early-access ⁠users later this month, Microsoft said.

The company did not disclose pricing, but said some usage would be included ​in its $30-per-user, per-month M365 Copilot offering for enterprises, with additional ​usage available for ⁠purchase.

Microsoft also said it is making Anthropic's latest Claude Sonnet models available to M365 Copilot users. The service had previously relied only on OpenAI's GPT ⁠models. The move ​deepens Microsoft's ties with Anthropic at a ​time when investors have questioned its dependence on OpenAI, which accounts for nearly 45% of Microsoft's ​cloud business contract backlog.

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