Microsoft is reportedly training its sales force to trash-talk competitors’ AI products while pitching its own in-house models. At a recent strategy session for the new fiscal year, company executives outlined a plan for salespeople to negatively compare offerings from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic against Microsoft’s Copilot platform, Bloomberg reported.
Executive Vice President Jay Parikh told the room that “everyone else is selling parts — we’re selling the full end-to-end system,” according to the report. Jacob Andreou reportedly presented a side-by-side comparison showing Anthropic’s Claude as “slower and less accurate” within Microsoft’s office apps.
What makes the shift notable is that Microsoft has long depended on these same companies for the AI models powering its own products. A report earlier this month found that Microsoft has been swapping OpenAI and Anthropic’s models out of flagship apps in favor of its own. The two companies amended their partnership in April, dropping the exclusivity clause and freeing OpenAI to sell directly to Microsoft’s customers.
