Microsoft is reportedly preparing to remove most of its Claude Code licenses and move many developers to GitHub Copilot CLI. Its Experiences + Devices organization is expected to wind down use of Anthropic’s coding tool by June 30, 2026.
The reported change affects the group responsible for products including Windows, Microsoft 365, Outlook, Microsoft Teams and Surface. Sources said engineers were being encouraged to begin moving their workflows to Copilot CLI in the coming weeks, ahead of the cutoff.
In a reported internal memo, Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Experiences + Devices group, said the company had offered both tools to compare them in real engineering workflows and learn which best supported employees. He described Copilot CLI as a product Microsoft could shape directly with GitHub around its repositories, workflows, security expectations and engineering needs.
Standardizing on Copilot CLI
Microsoft is reportedly telling employees that the decision is intended to establish Copilot CLI as the main agentic command-line interface across Experiences + Devices. Sources said financial considerations were also a factor. The June 30 cutoff coincides with the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year, before the next fiscal year begins in July.
The reported plan does not specify the number of licenses that would be canceled or retained, or the expected savings.
Microsoft reportedly began opening access to Claude Code in December 2025, inviting thousands of developers to use it. Designers, project managers and other employees without coding experience were also encouraged to experiment with the tool and prototype ideas. Employees had been asked to use both Claude Code and GitHub Copilot and provide comparative feedback.
Sources described Claude Code as popular inside Microsoft.
“We are partnering closely with GitHub and continue to improve Copilot CLI for Microsoft engineers,” Jha said. He said GitHub had already made improvements based on Microsoft feedback and that Experiences + Devices would remain involved in shaping the product. Developers are reportedly being encouraged to submit bug reports and feedback before Claude Code access is removed.
Claude models and Microsoft’s Anthropic partnership
GitHub describes Copilot CLI as a coding agent that runs in the terminal and can edit files, execute commands and run tests. Its February 25, 2026 general-availability announcement listed Anthropic and OpenAI models among the available choices.
The internal transition is reported to preserve access to Anthropic models through Copilot CLI, alongside OpenAI models and internal-only Microsoft models. Access to Claude models within Copilot CLI is separate from access to Anthropic’s Claude Code application.
Microsoft’s wider relationship with Anthropic includes a partnership announced on November 18, 2025. Microsoft said the agreement would give Microsoft Foundry customers access to Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Haiku 4.5, and committed to continuing Claude access across GitHub Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio.
Microsoft also reportedly became one of Anthropic’s top customers earlier in 2026 and counted sales of Anthropic AI models toward Azure sales quotas.
In a March 9, 2026 announcement, Microsoft said it had worked with Anthropic to integrate the technology behind Claude Cowork into Microsoft 365 Copilot.
