Microsoft and Meta are reportedly putting their own AI tools ahead of Anthropic’s Claude for more internal work, but neither company appears to be walking away from Claude altogether.
The changes center on employee use, where AI costs and competing in-house tools are pushing both companies to rethink how much they rely on third-party models. Microsoft is steering more developer work toward GitHub Copilot, while Meta is building adoption around MetaCode and Muse Code. Customer-facing access to Claude remains available through Microsoft’s commercial AI platform.
Microsoft cuts projected internal Claude spending
Yahoo Finance, citing The Information, reported that Microsoft reduced its projected internal spending on Anthropic technology by more than one-third. Executives had previously expected the company to spend at least $1 billion annually on Claude and other Anthropic technology used by employees.
Microsoft has also reportedly tightened AI budgets. In its Cloud and AI division, individual employees’ monthly AI spending caps fell from $100,000 to roughly $10,000 in most cases, as leadership encouraged developers to use GitHub Copilot and preferred models, including OpenAI’s. Copilot also supports Claude, so switching coding tools does not necessarily eliminate Anthropic model use.
The change does not mean Microsoft is removing Claude from its customer portfolio. Microsoft continues to offer Anthropic models through Microsoft Foundry, allowing customers to use Claude while Microsoft provides the Foundry experience, Azure infrastructure, and billing.
Meta pushes MetaCode and Muse Code
Meta is making a similar move toward its own development tools. Internal Claude Code usage reportedly fell from roughly 60,000 employees earlier in 2026 to around 30,000 more recently.
Workforce reductions contributed to some of that decline, but Meta has also been directing engineers toward its own AI coding tools. MetaCode has more than 30,000 internal users, while Muse Code has more than 6,000, according to reporting summarized by MLQ.
On Sept. 28, Meta announced Meta Enterprise Platform, an initiative to bring products including Muse Code, the Muse agent, and Muse API to businesses and developers. According to Stocktwits, Meta used Claude while developing its consumer Muse AI agent before switching to its own models for launch.
What the Claude pullback means for partners
For Microsoft partners, Claude is still part of the customer-facing AI mix. The internal spending controls instead show how even large technology companies are becoming more selective about which models employees use and how much they spend on them.
Cost is not the only consideration. ROIC AI reported that Microsoft also restricted employee use of a newer Claude model while its legal teams assessed Anthropic’s data-retention terms. The company’s external Anthropic relationship remains intact, however, with Claude still available to customers through Microsoft Foundry and Azure.
That could become increasingly familiar for channel partners helping customers deploy AI. Enterprises may want access to several models while setting tighter rules around token consumption, approved use cases, sensitive data, and which workloads justify premium models.
Microsoft’s approach offers a good example of that split. It can continue giving customers model choice through Foundry while directing its own employees toward GitHub Copilot and other preferred tools.
Meta is taking the idea further by developing more of its own AI stack. If MetaCode and Muse Code continue gaining internal adoption, Meta can rely less on external coding assistants while collecting more feedback from its own developers.
For partners and MSPs, the takeaway is to evaluate the coding tool, underlying model, and purchasing route separately. Before expanding a customer’s AI deployment, confirm subscription eligibility, set spending limits, review data-retention terms, and measure whether the selected model improves the workflow.
Related reading: For another example of how AI rivals can still depend on each other, Meta’s infrastructure spending is creating more Azure business for Microsoft even as the company builds more of its own AI tools.