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Microsoft Corporation has unveiled a series of new AI models in a bid to compete with Anthropic.
Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft’s AI chief, told The Financial Times that the company’s superintelligence team is focusing more on enterprise use cases, developers, and coding, akin to Anthropic’s approach, and is ” “less concerned” about the consumer-centric strategies of Google, Meta Platforms, and OpenAI.
At Microsoft’s Build conference on Tuesday, Suleyman unveiled seven new AI models, including a reasoning-focused system that Microsoft says delivers coding performance comparable to Anthropic’s Opus 4.6.
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However, the executive acknowledged that Anthropic remains ahead despite Microsoft’s rapid progress over the past six months. He noted that the AI startup has already released two more advanced models since Opus 4.6, giving it a lead of several months in the race.
“We’ve closed an enormous gap in six months,” Suleyman said.
Microsoft’s AI lab also presented an “ultra-efficient” coding model fine-tuned for the group’s GitHub developer platform. Suleyman is confident that the amalgamation of a coding and reasoning model will aid Microsoft in creating autonomous bots capable of performing tasks for users, thereby providing a substantial boost for business customers.
The software giant expects its in-house AI models to reduce costs over time by decreasing its reliance on Anthropic, to which it currently gives up a significant portion of margins when offering AI products to customers.
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Microsoft Sees AI Margin Pressure
Microsoft shares fell 4.17% on Tuesday as investors took profits and rotated within big tech, while attention shifted to Anthropic after its confidential IPO filing sparked interest in new AI growth opportunities.
Microsoft is pushing toward “true self-sufficiency” in AI following a restructuring deal with OpenAI, while retaining a 27% stake and access to its advanced models until 2032. The company is now reducing reliance on OpenAI by expanding partnerships, including a $35 billion cloud deal with Anthropic.
Anthropic has also reportedly explored using Microsoft’s AI chips, underscoring the software giant’s push to establish its Maia 200 processors as a lower-cost alternative to NVIDIA for certain AI inference workloads.
In April, the Dario Amodei-led company launched Claude for Word, challenging Microsoft’s software dominance. The launch came as AI’s role in legal work drew increasing scrutiny, with Chief Justice John Roberts warning the technology could automate routine document tasks.
Suleyman said Microsoft’s model development will lower costs over time by reducing its reliance on Anthropic, noting the company currently gives up “significant margin” when serving products and adding that it “translates into real dollars on the bottom line.”
Image via Shutterstock
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