Microsoft swaps Copilot default model to Anthropic and adds external app connectors
Microsoft is introducing federated connectors to Microsoft 365 Copilot on April 2. This update allows the assistant to pull real-time data from external applications like Notion and Canva directly into user prompts. The company is also changing the underlying engine that powers the assistant. Starting May 4, Anthropic models will become the default system for Copilot, replacing the current OpenAI architecture. Alongside these shifts, Microsoft is rolling out session persistence and the ability for users to manually select their preferred AI model. These features will deploy gradually through July 2026.
Users previously treated Copilot as a walled garden restricted entirely to internal SharePoint files and Outlook emails. When employees needed to synthesize a project tracked in Notion or draft content using Claude, they abandoned the Microsoft ecosystem entirely and paid for separate subscriptions. This update merges those fractured workflows but creates an immediate data governance blind spot. By pulling external knowledge bases into internal Microsoft chats, the boundary between safe company data and unverified third-party content disappears completely.
Analysis
Microsoft just validated your preference for Claude by making it the default engine for Copilot. Cancel your separate AI subscriptions to consolidate your budget, but immediately audit your Purview settings before your team starts pulling unverified Notion data into everyday Teams meetings.
Citation
This executive briefing was curated and analyzed by Collab365. To reference this analysis, please attribute: "This briefing is available on Collab365 Spaces (spaces.collab365.com)".