Microsoft deepens ties with Anthropic, integrates Claude Cowork agentic AI tool with 365 Copilot

The Windows maker on Monday also announced a new subscription bundle for businesses that combines its Office 365 software with its Copilot AI chatbot for the first time starting in May this year – alongside a new AI agent dashboard, new chat features, and more.

Announcing Copilot Cowork, a new way to complete tasks and get work done in M365.

When you hand off a task to Cowork, it turns your request into a plan and executes it across your apps and files, grounded in your work data and operating within M365’s security and governance… pic.twitter.com/UT2Z50J7F7

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 9, 2026

Notably, Microsoft’s partnership with Anthropic comes days after the AI startup behind Claude was designated as a ‘supply-chain’ risk by the US government following a wave of controversy over the military use of its AI products and tools. Anthropic has subsequently challenged the move in court.

For its part, Microsoft clarified last week that Anthropic’s offerings will continue to be embedded in its products for clients other than the US Department of Defence. The Copilot Cowork integration also signals that Microsoft is working more closely with Anthropic, even as the big tech company’s long-standing ties to OpenAI reportedly show signs of strain.

“Your work is not limited by one brand of models. Copilot hosts the best innovation from across the industry and chooses the right model for the job regardless of who built it. This is a pattern of work that will only become more powerful as new models and ways of working emerge,” Microsoft said in its announcement blog post.

What can Copilot Cowork do?

Within Microsoft 365, Claude Cowork will draw on signals across Outlook, Teams, Excel, and other bundled software so that “it can act with the same understanding you bring to your job,” the company said.

Users can describe the outcome they want and Copilto Cowork will turn that input into a plan. It will then autonomously go about executing the plan in the background and ask user approval at specific checkpoints so that they can review actions and make changes before they are applied.

Some of the example use cases outlined by Microsoft include rescheduling meetings, generating pitch decks and related documents, using deep research to analyse a company, creating a product launch plan with competitive intel and assets, etc. In terms of safety and security, Microsoft said that Copilot Cowork will be subjected to existing 365 policies and controls. “Cowork runs in a protected, sandboxed cloud environment, so tasks can keep progressing safely as you move across devices,” the company said.

Other announcements

Microsoft 365 Copilot: Microsoft said it has integrated Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook to help users create, edit, and refine content inside documents, spreadsheets, emails, and presentations by drawing on the context of their work. Currently available in Excel and Word, the new Copilot capabilities will come with PowerPoint and Outlook in the coming months.

Copilot Chat: Microsoft said users can now directly prompt Copilot agents in the chat window in order to complete work-related tasks without copying and pasting between tools or switching contexts. They can also surface apps directly within the chat as agents in Copilot support pen standards like Apps SDK and MCP Apps

Agent 365: It is a one-stop control plane designed for IT and security professionals to observe, secure, and manage AI agents. Agent 365 will be generally available on May 1, priced at $15 per user per month, as per Microsoft.

Microsoft 365 E7: It is Microsoft’s new software subscription bundle that includes access to Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agent 365, Microsoft Entra Suite, and Microsoft 365 E5 with advanced Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview security capabilities to help secure users, delivering comprehensive protection across agents and users. Microsoft 365 E7 will be available for purchase on May 1 at a retail price of $99 per user per month.