The accelerating AI race is pushing even the largest technology companies to move faster than their comfort zones allow.
A report highlights how Anthropic’s new AI agent, Cowork, has sparked concern within Microsoft’s leadership ranks. Welcome to varindia news hour Designed to operate like a human assistant, Cowork can take control of a computer, work across applications, organize files, generate spreadsheets from images, and build presentations end to end—capabilities that signal a new phase of AI productivity tools.
The development has triggered a sense of urgency at Microsoft.
CEO Satya Nadella is reportedly testing open-source and rival AI tools himself, while pressing teams to speed up innovation.
An internal Teams channel, “AI Accelerator,” has become a forum for deputies to experiment with competitors such as Moltbot, reflecting fears that Microsoft’s vast app ecosystem could be disrupted by agile newcomers.
Despite Cowork’s early momentum, Microsoft believes it retains a strategic edge.
Anthropic’s tool currently runs only on macOS, while Microsoft sees an opportunity to embed similar “digital co-worker” capabilities deeply into Windows, giving it unmatched distribution and integration.
The situation also underscores the complex co-opetition shaping the AI industry.
Microsoft remains one of Anthropic’s largest customers, using its models in products like GitHub Copilot, even as both companies race to build overlapping AI agent experiences.
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