Despite OpenAI partnership, Microsoft is one of Anthropic's biggest customers

Microsoft is shaping up to be one of Anthropic's best customers. According to The Information, the software giant is on track to spend nearly $500 million a year on Anthropic's models. Microsoft is using the OpenAI competitor's AI technology in products like GitHub Copilot and Office applications, likely in part to strengthen its bargaining position with OpenAI.

Microsoft has also told its Azure sales team to count Anthropic model sales to cloud customers toward their quotas, just like they would for Microsoft's own software. That's unusual for third-party products, which typically generate less revenue for Azure. The deeper collaboration follows Microsoft's investment of up to $5 billion in Anthropic last November.