Sept 24 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) said on Wednesday

it will integrate artificial intelligence models from Anthropic

into its Copilot assistant, signaling the software giant's push

to reduce dependence on its high-profile partnership with

ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

While Copilot will remain powered by OpenAI's latest models,

users will be able to select Anthropic models, Claude Sonnet 4

and Claude Opus 4.1, in Copilot's AI-powered reasoning agent

"Researcher," as well as when developing agents in Microsoft

Copilot Studio.

Starting Wednesday, users who opt in to try Claude can

switch between OpenAI and Anthropic models in Researcher, said

Charles Lamanna, president of Microsoft's ( MSFT ) business and industry

Copilot operations.

The move marks a shift for Microsoft Copilot, which has been

primarily using OpenAI for the new AI features across its suite

of applications like Word and Outlook.

Microsoft ( MSFT ), a key financial backer for OpenAI, has been

seeking to reduce its reliance on the startup and is developing

its own AI models, while also integrating models from China's

DeepSeek into its Azure cloud platform.

Earlier this year, Microsoft ( MSFT ) said it would offer new AI

models made by companies including Elon Musk's xAI and Meta

Platforms ( META ) hosted in its own data centers.

Anthropic's AI models are primarily hosted on Amazon Web

Services, a rival to Microsoft's ( MSFT ) cloud business.