Microsoft reportedly directs sales team to contrast its AI models against OpenAI and Anthropic

Microsoft held an internal strategy session for its sales teams focused on positioning the company’s in-house AI models as more efficient and cost-effective than those from competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic, according to a report citing an internal meeting described by Bloomberg.

Executives at the session, including Executive Vice President Jay Parikh, reportedly emphasized a company-wide narrative for the upcoming fiscal year: “Everyone else is selling parts — we’re selling the full end-to-end system. That’s the story that we all need to get out there and tell in FY27.”

Copilot executive vice president Jacob Andreou reportedly presented a direct comparison between Copilot and Anthropic’s chatbot Claude, stating that within Microsoft’s Office apps, Claude was “slower and less accurate, and lacked the proper security integrations.”

The reported strategy follows coverage earlier this month that Microsoft has been replacing models from OpenAI and Anthropic with its own in flagship applications such as Word and Excel, described as a cost-cutting measure.

Microsoft and Anthropic declined to comment when contacted by TechCrunch.

The shift comes after Microsoft amended its long-standing partnership with OpenAI in April to remove exclusivity, allowing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft’s competitors and signaling a broader strategic realignment.