Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic: what a $2B-a-year bill means

If you use Copilot, the AI assistant built into Microsoft's Office apps, some of the intelligence behind it may now come from Anthropic's Claude. The Information reports that Microsoft is on track to pay Anthropic more than $2 billion a year for those models.

According to The Information's original report, Microsoft is blending Claude models with OpenAI models in Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. The report cites a single source.

The report says Charles Lamanna, Microsoft's new Office chief, pushed CEO Satya Nadella to pay for Anthropic models even though they cost more. Several senior executives reportedly name Lamanna as a potential successor to Nadella.

The reason given is performance. Anthropic's newer models reportedly did better on advanced financial functions in Excel and on building PowerPoint decks from instructions. Customer complaints, as summarised in the report, said Copilot was "buggy and not good enough at automating work in Excel or PowerPoint."

The figure is a big jump. An earlier report from The Information, in early 2026, put Microsoft's Anthropic spending at about $500 million a year. A summary of the new report is also available from AI Weekly.

The reports suggest Microsoft is trying to fix the weak spots users complained about, mainly spreadsheet and slide tasks. If you use Copilot in Excel or PowerPoint, those are the areas where the newer Anthropic models reportedly did better.

Much is still unknown. The report doesn't say whether Microsoft is buying API inference (paying to run Claude on Anthropic's systems as needed), dedicated capacity or a longer-term commitment. It also doesn't say who absorbs the cost gap between Anthropic and OpenAI models. So there is no information here about any change to Copilot prices or which model handles which of your requests.

The $2 billion figure rests on one outlet and one source. Neither Microsoft nor Anthropic has confirmed it.

Nothing in the reports sets out a timetable or announces changes to Copilot. Confirmation or details from Microsoft or Anthropic would settle the open questions about the deal's structure and cost.