Builders have been evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of Anthropic’s Claude Code, Anysphere’s Cursor, and Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot for months now, in search of a winner. Whereas no particular person AI coding software manages to be one of the best at each process that software program builders do every day, Claude Code is more and more popping out on prime for its ease of use, each for builders and nontechnical customers.
It looks as if Microsoft agrees, as sources inform me the corporate is now encouraging 1000’s of its workers from a few of its most prolific groups to select up Claude Code and get coding, even when they’re not builders.
Microsoft first began adopting Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 mannequin inside its developer division in June final 12 months, earlier than favoring it for paid users of GitHub Copilot a number of months later. Now, Microsoft goes a step past utilizing Anthropic’s AI fashions and extensively adopting Claude Code throughout its largest engineering groups.
Microsoft’s CoreAI crew, the brand new AI engineering group led by former Meta engineering chief Jay Parikh, has been testing Claude Code in current months, and final week Microsoft’s Experiences + Units division had been being requested to put in Claude Code. This division is accountable for Home windows, Microsoft 365, Outlook, Microsoft Groups, Bing, Edge, Floor, and extra.
Even workers with none coding expertise are being inspired to experiment with Claude Code, to permit designers and venture managers to prototype concepts. Microsoft has additionally authorized using Claude Code throughout all of its code and repositories for its Enterprise and Business Copilot groups.
Software program engineers at Microsoft are actually anticipated to make use of each Claude Code and GitHub Copilot and provides suggestions evaluating the 2, I’m advised. Microsoft sells GitHub Copilot as its AI coding software of option to its prospects, but when these broad inner pilot packages are profitable, then it’s doable the corporate may even ultimately promote Claude Code on to its cloud prospects.
Microsoft is now one in all Anthropic’s prime prospects, in line with a current report from The Information. The software program maker can be counting promoting Anthropic AI fashions towards Azure gross sales quotas, which is uncommon given Microsoft sometimes solely affords its salespeople incentives for homegrown merchandise or fashions from OpenAI.
Microsoft’s choice to undertake Claude Code extra broadly amongst its engineering groups definitely seems like a vote of confidence in Anthropic’s AI instruments over its personal, particularly because it’s encouraging nontechnical workers to check out coding. However the actuality is that Microsoft’s builders are doubtless to make use of a mixture of AI instruments, and adopting Claude Code is one other a part of that software set.
“Firms recurrently take a look at and trial competing merchandise to realize a greater understanding of the market panorama,” says Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s communications chief, in an announcement to Notepad. “OpenAI continues to be our major associate and mannequin supplier on frontier fashions, and we stay dedicated to our long-term partnership.”
Whereas Microsoft stays dedicated to OpenAI, it’s more and more working with Anthropic to carry its fashions and instruments to Microsoft’s personal groups and the software program it sells to prospects. Microsoft and Anthropic signed a deal in November that enables Microsoft Foundry prospects to get entry to Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Opus 4.1, and Claude Haiku 4.5. The deal additionally includes Anthropic committing to buying $30 billion of Azure compute capability.
Microsoft has additionally began favoring Anthropic’s Claude fashions inside Microsoft 365 apps and Copilot not too long ago, utilizing them in specific apps or options the place Anthropic’s fashions have proved extra succesful than OpenAI’s counterparts.
The massive query right here is, what does the elevated use of Claude Code at Microsoft imply for its greater than 100,000 code repositories? Microsoft advised me final 12 months that 91 percent of its engineering teams use GitHub Copilot and a wide range of groups have been utilizing the AI software to hurry up mundane duties. Microsoft’s use of AI instruments has been largely restricted to software program engineers, however with Claude Code and Claude Cowork, Anthropic is more and more targeted on making coding and non-coding duties extra approachable, because of AI agent capabilities.
Microsoft is embracing the convenience of use of Claude Code to permit extra nontechnical workers to commit code utilizing AI, and this broad pilot will definitely spotlight the challenges and advantages of that shift. It additionally places additional strain on junior developer roles, with fears within the business that these roles are more and more disappearing due to AI. Microsoft simply took one other large step towards a future the place extra autonomous AI brokers are creating code, additional wrestling management from its software program engineers.
Microsoft is on the point of exhibit two of its largest Xbox video games this 12 months, Forza Horizon 6 and Fable, later right now as a part of its Xbox Developer Direct stream. There can even be a primary in-depth take a look at Beast of Reincarnation and not less than one different recreation proven, I’m listening to. Double Fantastic is able to show off Kiln, a multiplayer, team-based brawler. I perceive Double Fantastic has been holding playtests not too long ago, the place you play as a spirit that may inhabit pottery and carry water to douse an opponent’s kiln and put out a hearth.
I wouldn’t be stunned to see Kiln seem as an early preview within the coming months, adopted by Forza Horizon 6 in Might after which Halo: Marketing campaign Advanced. I preserve listening to that each Fable and Gears of Battle: E-Day are presently focusing on a launch within the second half of this 12 months. Microsoft is eager to launch new Forza, Gears, Halo, and Fable video games in 2026 to mark 25 years of Xbox.
- Microsoft’s first Home windows 11 replace of 2026 stopped some computer systems from shutting down. It’s solely January and Microsoft has needed to rush out an emergency out-of-band repair that stopped some Home windows 11 PCs from shutting down. The issues had been restricted to machines working Enterprise and IoT editions of Home windows 11 model 23H2, however it’s one more buggy replace for Home windows, which is turning into more and more widespread.
- Microsoft’s free Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming quickly with advertisements. Microsoft is getting nearer to launching its free streaming choice for Xbox Cloud Gaming. The ad-supported characteristic has started appearing contained in the Xbox app for PC, indicating “1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session.” I’m anticipating to see this rollout with preroll advertisements within the coming weeks, however there could possibly be limits of as much as 5 hours free per thirty days.
- Microsoft desires to construct 15 knowledge facilities in Mount Nice, Wisconsin. The empty land previously owned by Foxconn is about to be remodeled into Microsoft data centers. Leaders of the native village in Mount Nice, Wisconsin, authorized plans for the information facilities earlier this week, and closing approval may come subsequent week. Foxconn’s failed Wisconsin venture had promised 13,000 jobs, however now the land might be crammed with a 1.2-million-square-foot knowledge heart venture that can maintain a whole lot of 1000’s of Nvidia’s AI GPUs.
- The Xbox app is now out there for all Arm-based Home windows 11 PCs. After a rocky begin to gaming on Home windows on Arm, Microsoft has updated its Xbox app this week so it’s absolutely appropriate with all Qualcomm-powered gadgets. Greater than 85 p.c of the Xbox Sport Cross catalog can be now appropriate with Arm-based gadgets, however the majority of video games will nonetheless should be emulated utilizing Microsoft’s Prism expertise.
- Microsoft Paint now has an AI-powered coloring ebook. Microsoft is including extra AI options to its Paint app this week. Home windows testers can now check out a coloring book feature that allows you to create coloring ebook pages from a textual content immediate. It’s out there contained in the Copilot button in Paint, and it’s a must to have a Copilot Plus PC to have the ability to use it. Notepad (the app!) can be getting expanded Markdown syntax options and a brand new welcome expertise to focus on options. I by no means thought I’d see the day that Notepad, a light-weight app, would wish a welcome display due to all of the options Microsoft has packed in.
- GitHub has a brand new Copilot SDK. Microsoft is saying a technical preview of its GitHub Copilot SDK right now, which brings the facility of the GitHub Copilot CLI to any app. It basically permits builders to carry GitHub Copilot capabilities as a programmable SDK for Python, TypeScript, Go, and .NET. Microsoft groups have already used this to construct customized GUIs for brokers, summarizing instruments, YouTube chapter turbines, and extra.
- Satya Nadella and former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak chat AI. Former UK chief Rishi Sunak took on a senior adviser position at Microsoft and Anthropic final 12 months, and he’s now appeared alongside Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to debate the way forward for AI. The roughly 30-minute talk didn’t have any shocking information, however Sunak did agree with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang that “you might not lose your job to AI, however you might properly lose your job to somebody utilizing AI.” Nadella thinks AI will make us all “managers of infinite minds,” very like how we’ve got “data at your fingertips.”
- Microsoft now sponsors the Mercedes-AMG F1 crew. Microsoft is switching its F1 allegiances from Alpine to Mercedes-AMG for the 2026 season. A new multiyear partnership will see Mercedes-AMG use Microsoft applied sciences for race crew operations and plaster the Microsoft brand in distinguished positions on the 2026 Mercedes-AMG F1 automobile and on racing fits. There’s an enormous technical shake-up for the 2026 season, with all-new chassis, energy models, and gasoline rules.
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