Microsoft will switch on Anthropic’s Claude models by default for UK Copilot customers starting Dec. 9. Organizations that have not chosen a setting by then will have Claude enabled, though administrators can turn it off. Anthropic processes that data in the United States, outside Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary.
Microsoft will switch on Anthropic’s Claude models by default for UK Copilot customers starting Dec. 9, The Register reported. Anthropic processes that data in the United States.
Will Claude be turned on by default in UK Copilot?
Organizations that have not picked a setting by then will have Claude enabled. Administrators can still turn it off. But leaving the setting untouched means opting in, Richard Speed wrote for The Register.
Anthropic works as a Microsoft subprocessor, meaning a third party that handles customer data under Microsoft’s contracts and oversight, according to Microsoft’s Copilot documentation. Claude is already on by default for most of Microsoft’s commercial customers. The European Union, the European Free Trade Association and the UK have been the exceptions until now.
“This affirms Microsoft’s commitment to offering choice between leading AI models while maintaining enterprise-grade security and compliance,” Microsoft wrote.
Outside the EU Data Boundary
Are Claude models in Copilot covered by Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary?
The documentation says Claude models in Copilot fall outside Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary. They are also excluded from in-country processing commitments. The UK is not covered by that boundary, which is why Microsoft is changing the default there, The Register said.
The change covers Claude in Copilot, Researcher, Copilot Studio, Power Platform and Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft is also retiring a setting that had limited Claude to Microsoft 365 apps.
Some advanced Anthropic models will stay off by default everywhere. Those include Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5. Anthropic keeps data from those models, mostly for up to 30 days, so administrators must opt in to them separately, Microsoft said.
The same week, Anthropic launched Claude Sheets and other office tools that compete with Microsoft’s own.
Whitehall’s US tech bill
The UK public sector’s reliance on US technology is the focus of a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Less than £1 in every £6 spent with the 150 largest technology suppliers stays with British companies, The Register reported Wednesday.
How much UK public spending on technology stays with UK companies?
About 42.5% of that spending appears to go to UK companies. That share drops to 15.4% once researchers looked past headquarters to ownership, staff and resellers. The US receives the most, with £9.2bn of the £19.2bn spent with the largest suppliers.
The report, called Locked In, found that AI often reaches government through existing cloud and software deals. NHS England’s Copilot rollout reached 505,000 staff. It ran under a national licensing deal signed in June 2023, before Copilot was generally available.
IPPR also pointed to US restrictions on Anthropic models. It cited limits on early access for the UK’s AI Security Institute as well.
The government has committed £500m to a Sovereign AI Fund. IPPR wants Whitehall to buy technology as a single customer and to make it easier to switch suppliers. It also wants the UK to work with France, Germany, Japan and South Korea on access to advanced AI.
“But we cannot do it alone, and building domestic capability can’t be our only bet,” said Roa Powell, senior research fellow at IPPR.
UK administrators who want to keep Claude switched off in Copilot have until Dec. 9 to change the setting.
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