Meta and Microsoft cut internal use of Claude

The Information reported that Meta Platforms and Microsoft were cutting back on internal use of Anthropic’s Claude and directing workers to tools they developed themselves. The report was based on sources familiar with Microsoft’s budget and on figures about Meta’s internal usage.

It said Microsoft had once expected to spend at least $1 billion on Anthropic’s technology, but that estimate had since been reduced by more than a third. Company leaders had also asked staff to use Microsoft’s own AI products instead, according to the report.

The article added that this change concerned internal operations only, not customer demand. It said spending by customers on Anthropic models through Microsoft’s enterprise platforms was still increasing.

At Meta, use of Claude Code had reportedly dropped to about 30,000 employees from about 60,000 earlier in the year. The report said spring layoffs that affected about 10% of Meta’s 78,000-person workforce contributed to the fall, but that the main reason was Meta’s work on its own AI system.

It said Meta’s Muse Spark model line had replaced much of the need for Claude, and that the company had started outside testing of Muse Code in August. The article said Muse Code had more than 6,000 internal users, while MetaCode had more than 30,000.