Oct 8 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) is partnering with

Harvard Medical School to enhance its Copilot AI assistant with

health content, as part of a broader effort to reduce its

dependence on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, the Wall Street Journal

reported on Wednesday.

Copilot, following an update scheduled for release as soon

as this month, is set to use Harvard Health Publishing

information to respond to healthcare queries, the report said,

citing people familiar with the matter.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) will pay Harvard a licensing fee, the report

added.

In an interview with the Journal, Dominic King, vice

president of health at Microsoft AI, said that the company's aim

is for Copilot to serve answers that are more in line with the

information users might get from a medical practitioner than

what is currently available.

Harvard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment, while Microsoft ( MSFT ) declined to comment on the report.

Copilot so far has been primarily using OpenAI's models

across its suite of applications, such as Word and Outlook, and

- in an effort to reduce its reliance on the startup - Microsoft ( MSFT )

has started using Anthropic's Claude and is curretly developing

its own AI models.