Microsoft (MS) will introduce Anthropic's artificial intelligence (AI) agent platform "Claude CoWork" to its Office services.
Microsoft said on the 9th (local time) that it will introduce "Claude CoWork," a technology co-developed with Anthropic, into the work AI agent "Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3."
Copilot Wave has operated with the goal of boosting individual and organizational productivity by making AI a team member. Wave 1 was at the level of a chatbot that answered questions, and Wave 2 assisted by drafting documents or summarizing content. With Claude CoWork applied to Wave 3, AI agents will autonomously carry out work across Excel, Word and PowerPoint without users having to direct them step by step. In effect, AI becomes a team member rather than a secretary.
Earlier, when Anthropic unveiled "Claude CoWork," which lets AI autonomously handle areas previously covered by software-as-a-service (SaaS) such as building presentations and reviewing legal documents, a crisis narrative spread in the software industry.
Afterward, Melius Research and Stifel downgraded their investment view on Microsoft from buy to hold, citing concerns about capital expenditure and the growth of Microsoft Copilot services.
Ultimately, facing a situation in which its Office services were threatened by the Anthropic-driven AI shock, Microsoft chose to collaborate rather than reject it. At the same time, it is reducing its dependence on OpenAI, with which it has maintained an existing partnership.
Microsoft said, "Copilot was designed from the start to support a variety of AI models," and noted, "Instead of relying on a single model, we built a system that can use all models for work."