Microsoft is reportedly training salespeople to talk down OpenAI and Anthropic

During an internal meeting on Tuesday, company executives outlined a plan for sellers to negatively compare AI products from companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic to their own, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The meeting, billed as a strategy session for the new fiscal year, reportedly leaned heavily on comparing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of Microsoft’s internal models against those of its rivals.

“Everyone else is selling parts – we’re selling the entire end-to-end system. That’s the story we all have to tell in FY27,” Executive Vice President Jay Parikh reportedly told the audience.

Executive Vice President Jacob Andreou reportedly went further and gave a presentation directly comparing Copilot to Anthropic’s chatbot Claude. According to Bloomberg, Andreou noted that when it came to performance within Microsoft’s office apps, Anthropic’s model was “slower and less accurate, and lacked proper security integrations,” Bloomberg writes.

TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft and Anthropic for comment and will update this story if we hear from either outfit.

Een bedrijf dat zijn verkoopteam coacht in het uitlachen van concurrenten is niet bepaald verrassend. What’s even more remarkable is who Microsoft is now targeting: the same companies it has long depended on for the AI ​​models that power its own products.

It’s just the latest step in that direction. A report earlier this month revealed that Microsoft has ditched OpenAI and Anthropic models for flagship apps like Word and Excel in favor of its own models – a cost-saving move, according to that report.

Er was een tijd dat Microsoft en OpenAI aan de heup vastzaten. The two companies entered into a very unique agreement years ago in which Microsoft provided capital and computing power to OpenAI, while giving Microsoft exclusive access to OpenAI’s API and models. The companies altered the partnership in April, removing the exclusivity clause and allowing OpenAI to sell to Microsoft’s competitors.

Die herziene relatie kan de nieuwe toon van het verkoopteam helpen verklaren. Microsoft has faced a less than optimal stock outlook for the past year as investors question the company’s massive spending on the U.S. economy expanding its AI activities. Talking about how competitive these products actually are is likely an attempt to calm those waters and build confidence in Microsoft’s long-term AI plan.