{"id":73081,"date":"2026-04-22T09:45:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T07:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/?p=73081"},"modified":"2026-04-22T18:42:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:42:30","slug":"microsoft-365-copilot-anthropic-models-and-compliance-impact-in-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/microsoft-365-copilot-anthropic-models-and-compliance-impact-in-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft 365 Copilot: Anthropic Models and Compliance Impact in the EU"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft is extending Microsoft 365 Copilot with <strong>Anthropic AI models<\/strong> as an alternative to OpenAI models. This introduces more model choice, but also <strong>new administrative and compliance decisions for European organizations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Anthropic is disabled by default in the EU\/EFTA\/UK and must be explicitly enabled by an administrator<\/strong>. We do, however,<strong> recommend checking if <\/strong>this<strong> option is enabled <\/strong>in your tenant to prevent potential compliance issues.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic.png 800w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-500x281.png 500w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Microsoft adds <strong>Anthropic models<\/strong> as an additional AI provider in Microsoft 365 Copilot<\/li>\n<li><strong>Anthropic is a prerequisite<\/strong> and is <strong>disabled by default<\/strong> in EU, EFTA, and UK tenants<\/li>\n<li>Once Anthropic is enabled:\n<ul>\n<li>It becomes available in <strong>Copilot Chat<\/strong> and other applications<\/li>\n<li>It may be used <strong>by default<\/strong> in <strong>Copilot for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint<\/strong>, unless explicitly turned off<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>When Anthropic models are used, <strong>data processing occurs outside the EU Data Boundary<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>European organizations must actively <strong>review and configure settings<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What is changing?<\/h2>\n<p>Microsoft is introducing a <strong>multi\u2011model approach<\/strong> to Microsoft 365 Copilot by integrating Anthropic models alongside existing OpenAI models. This expands AI model choice and supports future scenarios such as Copilot Cowork.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-72435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-03-16-Update-Microsoft-365-Copilot-Cowork-hero.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"774\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-03-16-Update-Microsoft-365-Copilot-Cowork-hero.png 774w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-03-16-Update-Microsoft-365-Copilot-Cowork-hero-500x281.png 500w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-03-16-Update-Microsoft-365-Copilot-Cowork-hero-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-03-16-Update-Microsoft-365-Copilot-Cowork-hero-768x432.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Anthropic operates as a <strong>Microsoft subprocessor<\/strong> under Microsoft Product Terms and the Microsoft Data Protection Addendum (DPA).<br \/>\nHowever, Anthropic models are <strong>not part of the EU Data Boundary<\/strong>, meaning Copilot data processed by Anthropic is handled <strong>outside the EU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, European organizations must <strong>explicitly decide<\/strong> whether they want to allow Anthropic models.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Step 1: Anthropic as a prerequisite (global setting)<\/h2>\n<p>In <strong>EU \/ EFTA \/ UK tenants<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Anthropics models are <strong>disabled by default<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>An admin must <strong>explicitly enable Anthropic as a Microsoft subprocessor<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>If <strong>enabled<\/strong>: Multiple AI models are available across Microsoft offerings, including in <strong>Microsoft 365 Copilot, Researcher, Copilot Studio, Power Platform, Agent Mode in Excel, and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>If <strong>not enabled<\/strong>: It is <strong>not used anywhere<\/strong> in Copilot<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to enable\/disable Anthropic Models in Microsoft 365 Apps<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin center as an administrator assigned the <strong>AI Administrator<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Microsoft 365 Admin Center \u2192 Copilot \u2192 Settings \u2192 <a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/copilot\/settings\/ViewAll\">View all<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Select<strong> AI providers operating as Microsoft subprocessors<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73094\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1451\" height=\"61\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor.png 1451w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor-500x21.png 500w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor-800x34.png 800w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor-150x6.png 150w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-AI-processor-768x32.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1451px) 100vw, 1451px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On the AI providers operating as Microsoft subprocessors page, under <strong>Available subprocessors for your organization<\/strong>, select Anthropic as a Microsoft subprocessor.<\/li>\n<li>Per <strong>default<\/strong>, this is <strong>disabled<\/strong>, and <strong>neither option is selected<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73090\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-Disable.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-Disable.png 536w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-Disable-312x500.png 312w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-Disable-499x800.png 499w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-Disable-93x150.png 93w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 536px) 100vw, 536px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Once you selected &#8220;<strong>Enable Anthropic as a Microsoft subprocessor subject to the above terms<\/strong>&#8220;, the option changes to:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-73086\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-enabled.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"644\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-enabled.png 620w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-enabled-481x500.png 481w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/04\/SCHNEIDER-IT-MANAGEMENT-2026-04-22-Update-Microsoft-Copilot-Anthropic-enabled-144x150.png 144w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can <strong>Disable\/Enable <\/strong>Anthropic<strong> anytime<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Step 2: Where Anthropic is used once enabled<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Once Anthropic is enabled as a subprocessor<\/strong>, two Copilot changes apply.<\/p>\n<h3>1) Copilot Chat &#8211; Anthropic Claude Sonnet (<a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1247880\">MC1247880<\/a>)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Anthropic Claude Sonnet becomes <strong>available as a selectable model<\/strong> in Copilot Chat<\/li>\n<li>Users can <strong>choose the model explicitly<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Disabled by default<\/strong> in EU\/EFTA\/UK until Anthropic is enabled<\/li>\n<li>Not available in Government or Sovereign clouds<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2) Copilot in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (<a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1269241\">MC1269241<\/a>)<\/h3>\n<p>Microsoft introduced an <strong>app\u2011specific setting<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cAllow Anthropic models in Copilot experiences in Microsoft 365 apps\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This setting applies <strong>only<\/strong> to Excel, PowerPoint and Word (Word integration will become available in summer 2026)<\/li>\n<li>Admins can <strong>turn this off<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Compliance impact in both scenarios<\/h2>\n<p>If Anthropic is enabled and used:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Copilot data is <strong>processed outside the EU Data Boundary<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>No customer data is stored outside the EU<\/li>\n<li>Data remains encrypted in transit<\/li>\n<li>Anthropic acts strictly as a Microsoft subprocessor<\/li>\n<li>Enterprise Data Protection for Microsoft 365 Copilot continues to apply<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Organizations requiring <strong>EU\u2011only processing<\/strong> must <strong>leave Anthropic disabled<\/strong> or explicitly disable it in Office apps. This is why it is necessary to keep up with Microsoft\u2019s changes on a regular basis.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/newsletter\/\">Subscribe to our free licensing newsletter<\/a>, if you aren\u2019t already.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>What organizations should do now<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/copilot\/settings\/ViewAll\"><strong>Check whether Anthropic is enabled<\/strong> as a Microsoft subprocessor<\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Review the Office app\u2013specific setting<\/strong> for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint<\/li>\n<li><strong>Assess EU Data Boundary and GDPR implications<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Document the decision<\/strong> for compliance and audit purposes<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communicate internally<\/strong> how Copilot model usage is governed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Ready to empower your organization with Copilot?<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-71820\" src=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"2979\" height=\"1986\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072.webp 2979w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-500x333.webp 500w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-800x533.webp 800w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-150x100.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-1536x1024.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/media\/2026\/03\/Office-People-DSCF8072-2048x1365.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2979px) 100vw, 2979px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We help you make <strong>licensing and compliance decisions<\/strong> that are <strong>audit-safe<\/strong> while <strong>saving costs<\/strong> and <strong>increasing productivity<\/strong> using AI. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/contact\/\">Contact our Microsoft licensing experts today.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<p><em>MC1269241: Anthropic Models Enabled by Default in Copilot for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint<br \/>\n<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1269241\"><em>https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1269241<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>MC1247880: Anthropic Claude Sonnet Available in Microsoft 365 Copilot<br \/>\n<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1247880\"><em>https:\/\/admin.cloud.microsoft\/?#\/MessageCenter\/:\/messages\/MC1247880<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Anthropic as a subprocessor for Microsoft Online Services &#8211; Microsoft Learn: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/copilot\/microsoft-365\/connect-to-ai-subprocessor\"><em>https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/copilot\/microsoft-365\/connect-to-ai-subprocessor<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps with Anthropic models &#8211; Microsoft Learn: <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/copilot\/copilot-anthropic-apps\"><em>https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-365\/copilot\/copilot-anthropic-apps<\/em><\/a><em>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft is extending Microsoft 365 Copilot with Anthropic AI models as an alternative to OpenAI models. This introduces more model choice, but also new administrative and compliance decisions for European organizations. Anthropic is disabled by default in the EU\/EFTA\/UK and must be explicitly enabled by an administrator. We do, however, recommend checking if this option [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[671],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-microsoft-copilot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73081"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73107,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73081\/revisions\/73107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.schneider.im\/lu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}