Meta and Microsoft Scale Back Internal Use of Anthropic's AI Assistants

Meta Platforms and Microsoft are reining in their internal reliance on Anthropic’s Claude AI technology, a move that reflects the companies’ growing confidence in developing their own artificial intelligence tools. According to a recent report by The Information, both tech giants have been actively reducing their use of Claude as they steer employees toward proprietary alternatives.

A significant factor driving this shift is Microsoft’s push to streamline its internal operations and cut costs. Earlier this year, the company projected an internal spend of at least $1 billion on Anthropic’s technology, but that estimate has since been slashed by more than a third. To rein in operating expenses, leadership has reportedly asked staff to limit their use of Claude and instead utilize Microsoft’s own AI offerings.

The reduction in Claude usage is exclusive to internal operations; customer spending on Anthropic models via Microsoft’s enterprise platforms continues to see steady growth. This distinction highlights the complexity of companies’ relationships with external AI providers, where business needs can sometimes diverge from internal priorities.

Meta is experiencing a similar shift away from Anthropic’s technology. Usage of Claude Code, its coding assistant, has dropped significantly since spring layoffs that impacted about 10% of Meta’s workforce. However, this decline is primarily driven by the company’s aggressive push to develop its own AI ecosystem and replace external tools with proprietary alternatives.

Meta’s progress in developing its own AI tools is evident in the rapid advancement of its Muse Spark line of models. The company has already begun external testing for Muse Code, a direct competitor to Claude Code powered by Meta’s models, which recently tallied over 6,000 internal users. Meanwhile, MetaCode—a similar tool built exclusively for internal use—has surpassed 30,000 users.