Microsoft is training its salespeople to criticize OpenAI and Anthropic products

Competition in the AI market is reaching a new level. Microsoft is providing its sales staff with specific instructions on how to negatively characterize products from key competitors like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and how to prioritize its own developments. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing an internal strategic meeting of the company. This is reported by Techcrunch.com reports .

At this meeting held for the new fiscal year, Microsoft executives explained their plan to present the company's internal models as more efficient and cheaper than those of competitors. According to executive vice president Jay Parikh, while other companies are only selling individual components, Microsoft is offering customers a complete and integrated system.

Sharp attack on competitors

During the meeting, another high-ranking executive, Jacob Andreou, directly compared the Copilot system with the Claude chatbot developed by Anthropic. He stated that when working within Microsoft applications, Anthropic models are slower, less accurate, and lack necessary security integrations. Such sharp statements indicate that Microsoft's approach to the market is changing.

It is noteworthy that Microsoft has been partnering with these companies it is now criticizing for a long time. In particular, OpenAI models form the basis of Microsoft products. However, according to recent information, the corporation is gradually replacing OpenAI and Anthropic models in flagship applications like Word and Excel with its own proprietary developments to reduce costs.

The relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI may have cooled slightly after the partnership agreement was revised in April. According to the updated agreement, OpenAI now has the right to sell its technologies to Microsoft's competitors as well. This is forcing Microsoft to promote its independent ecosystem more aggressively.

A move to win investor confidence

Economic factors also lie behind the company's strategy. Over the past year, investors have begun to express doubts about when Microsoft's massive spending on AI infrastructure will pay off. By exaggerating the competitiveness of its products, the company's leadership aims to reassure market participants and restore confidence in its long-term strategy.

For now, representatives of Anthropic and Microsoft have declined to provide official comments on these reports. However, although such "trade wars" are common in the tech world, Microsoft's use of such tactics against its close partners shows that the balance of power in the industry is shifting.