Artificial Intelligence
Meta and Microsoft cut back on Claude use
Meta and Microsoft reduced internal use of Anthropic’s Claude, with Microsoft shifting staff towards its own tools and Meta lowering Claude Code usage while promoting its own products.
- Microsoft’s projected Claude spending was said to have exceeded $1 billion a year, according to The Information.
- Scott Guthrie and Jay Parikh told employees to use Microsoft’s own tools, including GitHub Copilot and OpenAI’s models.
- Microsoft cut spending on Claude by more than a third, with the cloud division’s monthly per-employee budget falling from $100,000 to about $10,000.
- Meta’s Claude Code users fell from roughly 60,000 to 30,000.
- Meta spent more than $105 million on Claude Code in one 28-day period.
Meta and Microsoft reduced their internal use of Claude, according to the article. It said Microsoft’s projected annual Claude spending had been more than $1 billion, based on reporting from The Information.
The article said Microsoft executives Scott Guthrie and Jay Parikh told employees to use in-house tools such as GitHub Copilot and OpenAI’s models. It said spending fell by more than a third, and the cloud division’s monthly per-employee budget dropped from $100,000 to about $10,000.
At Meta, the number of Claude Code users fell from about 60,000 to 30,000. The article said that was partly linked to layoffs and partly to Meta’s promotion of its own tools, Muse Code and MetaCode.
It also said Meta spent more than $105 million on Claude Code in one 28-day span. The article added that Meta had introduced cost-cutting measures in June.
The piece said cost savings were one possible reason for the shift, and claimed Meta also had an interest in limiting Anthropic’s access to training data. It said Anthropic’s rapid growth could become a problem for large incumbents, and mentioned Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work as possible Office alternatives.
Named in this story
People
- Scott Guthrie
- Told employees to use Microsoft’s own tools.
- Jay Parikh
- Told employees to use Microsoft’s own tools.
Companies
- Meta
- Cut its internal use of Claude and pushed its own AI tools.
- Microsoft
- Reduced spending on Claude and told employees to use in-house tools instead.
- Anthropic
- Supplied Claude and was described as facing strategic risk from large customers.
- OpenAI
- Provided models that Microsoft asked staff to use.
Organisations
- The Information
- Was cited for the estimate of Microsoft’s projected Claude spending.
Products and systems
- GitHub Copilot
- Was named as one of Microsoft’s in-house alternatives.
- Claude
- Was the Anthropic tool whose internal use was being reduced.
- Claude Code
- Was the Claude product Meta had fewer employees using.
- Muse Code
- Was one of Meta’s own tools.
- MetaCode
- Was another of Meta’s own tools.
- Claude Cowork
- Was mentioned as a tool that could compete with Office.
- ChatGPT Work
- Was mentioned as a tool that could compete with Office.
How the source tells it
The piece used a competitive, mildly speculative register, with the article’s own framing leaning on rivalry and irony rather than neutral reporting.
- competitive tension The story was shaped by a framing of partners becoming rivals and by repeated comparison with in-house alternatives.
- speculation presented as fact Several claims about motives and future competitive effects were stated without direct evidence or clear attribution.
- moral irony The writing used irony to frame Meta’s and Microsoft’s behaviour as a reversal in their relationship with Anthropic.