Microsoft is reportedly instructing its sales force to disparage competitors OpenAI and Anthropic. Bloomberg reports that executives held an internal strategy session on Tuesday to outline a plan for negative comparisons. The meeting focused on the fiscal year ahead, emphasising efficiency and cost savings offered by Microsoft’s in-house models over rival offerings.
The pitch
Executive Vice President Jay Parikh told the room that other firms sell individual components while Microsoft delivers the complete end-to-end system. He stated this distinction is the core message for the upcoming fiscal year.
Executive Vice President Jacob Andreou presented a direct comparison between Copilot and Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude. Andreou claimed that within Microsoft’s office applications, the rival model is slower, less accurate, and lacks the necessary security integrations. TechCrunch has contacted both Microsoft and Anthropic for comment. We will update this story if we receive a response.
The context
Coaching sales staff to criticise rivals is not uncommon. The notable element is the target. Microsoft is now directing its sales arguments against the very companies it relied upon for the models powering its own products.
This follows a report earlier this month stating Microsoft removed OpenAI and Anthropic models from flagship apps like Word and Excel to replace them with its own. That move was described as a cost-cutting measure.
Microsoft and OpenAI were once closely linked. Their agreement years ago saw Microsoft provide capital and compute to OpenAI in exchange for exclusive access to the API and models. The partnership changed in April when the exclusivity clause was dropped, allowing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft’s competitors.
The shift in relationship may explain the new sales pitch. Investors have questioned the company’s massive spending on its AI infrastructure over the past year, creating a less-than-optimal stock outlook. Emphasising the competitiveness of the products is likely an attempt to calm those concerns and build confidence in the long-term plan.
What it means
Microsoft is moving away from relying on the goodwill of its previous partners. By publicly highlighting the weaknesses of OpenAI and Anthropic, the company signals it views them as obstacles rather than allies. This approach aims to justify the heavy investment in internal models to shareholders who are worried about the return on that spending.
