Glonce

Meta and Microsoft cut internal Claude use as Anthropic turns rival

businessThe Glonce editorsThe Decoder🔥77Glonce rating77Impact65Novelty70Relevance98Surprise68Players96Credibility75
Meta and Microsoft cut internal Claude use as Anthropic turns rival

Meta and Microsoft, described as two of Anthropic's biggest enterprise customers, are sharply cutting internal use of Claude, according to The Decoder, which cites The Information for the Microsoft figures.

At Microsoft, Claude spending had been projected at over $1 billion annually. Executives Scott Guthrie and Jay Parikh then told employees to use in-house tools like GitHub Copilot and OpenAI's models instead. Spending was cut by more than a third. In the cloud division, the monthly per-employee budget dropped from $100,000 to about $10,000.

At Meta, the number of Claude Code users fell from roughly 60,000 to 30,000. The Decoder attributes that partly to layoffs and partly to Meta pushing its own tools, Muse Code and MetaCode. For scale, in one 28-day stretch Meta spent over $105 million on Claude Code alone. Meta had already introduced AI cost-cutting measures in June.

The Decoder's own reading is that cost savings are one likely driver, but not the only one. In its view, Meta has little reason to keep feeding Anthropic when it wants to sell competing products, and Meta reportedly also wanted to restrict Anthropic's access to its training data. The piece adds that the irony of Meta worrying about someone else using its data is hard to miss. It also argues that Anthropic has grown extremely fast and is becoming a headache for incumbents, and that even Microsoft has reason to worry, since tools like Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work are increasingly turning into Office alternatives.

Key facts

  • Microsoft had projected Claude spending at over $1 billion annually (per The Information) and cut it by more than a third after Scott Guthrie and Jay Parikh told employees to use in-house tools like GitHub Copilot and OpenAI's models.
  • The monthly per-employee Claude budget in Microsoft's cloud division fell from $100,000 to about $10,000.
  • Claude Code users at Meta dropped from roughly 60,000 to 30,000, partly from layoffs and partly because Meta is pushing Muse Code and MetaCode.
  • In one 28-day stretch Meta spent over $105 million on Claude Code alone; Meta had introduced AI cost-cutting measures in June.
  • The Decoder's own assessment: cost is not the only driver, since Anthropic is increasingly a competitor to both companies.

Why it matters

Two of Anthropic's biggest enterprise customers are pulling back at the same time, and the numbers are large: a Microsoft projection of over $1 billion a year cut by more than a third, and Meta spending over $105 million on Claude Code in a single 28-day stretch. The Decoder frames the shift as a supplier turning into a competitor. Meta wants to sell competing products, and tools like Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Work are increasingly becoming Office alternatives, which is a worry for Microsoft. That is the publication's reading, not a stated reason from either company.

Who it affects

Anthropic is the obvious party, as the maker of Claude and Claude Code, with two major enterprise accounts shrinking. Employees at both companies are affected directly: Microsoft staff were told to use GitHub Copilot and OpenAI's models, and Meta staff are being pushed toward Muse Code and MetaCode. Other large companies that buy AI tools from vendors who also compete with them may recognise the same tension.

How to use it

There is nothing to adopt here; this is a report about spending, not a product or release. The practical signal for anyone budgeting for AI coding tools is how quickly large per-seat spending was cut back at these two companies, and how internal tools were offered as the replacement.

How solid is it

The Microsoft spending figures are attributed to The Information; The Decoder adds the Meta numbers without naming an outlet for them. The piece contains no on-record comments from Meta, Microsoft or Anthropic. The claim that Meta reportedly wanted to restrict Anthropic's access to its training data is flagged as reported, with no outlet named. The competitive explanations (little reason to feed a rival, Office alternatives, Anthropic as a headache for incumbents) are the author's own assessment rather than reported fact.

Risks and caveats

The source does not say which 28-day period the $105 million covers, or the year of Meta's June cost-cutting measures. It does not give Microsoft's actual spending after the cut, only that it fell by more than a third from a projection of over $1 billion a year. It does not say how many Meta employees were laid off or how much of the Claude Code user drop comes from layoffs versus Meta's own tools. It also gives no Anthropic response and no figures on Anthropic's revenue or customer losses, so the overall effect on the company cannot be judged from this report.