How Anthropic's new AI tool for Microsoft Word may be 'problem' for Copilot

Anthropic is said to be taking another direct shot at Microsoft's dominance in the workplace. The AI startup has officially launched a beta version of Claude for Word, which is a specialised add-in designed to bring its advanced AI intelligence directly into the world's most popular word-processing software, a report by Business Insider said. With this, Anthropic's focus is specifically target legal and financial professionals.The report said that the new add-in is built for people who deal with complex documents - for legal reviews, drafting financial memos and intense editing sessions where accuracy is everything. On Saturday (April 11), the company revealed that Claude for Word will allow users to ask specific questions about their documents. Unlike a standard search, Claude provides answers with clickable citations, allowing users to jump directly to the section of the document the AI is referencing.Anthropic claims to have solved one of the biggest headaches when using AI: Edit professional documents is losing the formatting. Key features include:Style preservation: Claude can edit selected text while keeping the documents' specific numbering, styles and formatting perfectly intact.Tracked changes mode: To ensure human oversight, users can use a specialised mode that lets them accept or reject every single edit the AI makes, just like a traditional revision.Comment thread integration: Claude can actually "read" through comment threads left by colleagues, edit the text based on those suggestions, and then reply to the thread to explain what it changed.Last month, the company announced Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3. Now, instead of acting as a separate assistant, Copilot now integrates deeply into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, working alongside you from the first draft to the final polish. At the heart of this update is Work IQ. Unlike basic AI, Copilot stays grounded in users' unique professional context. It scans latest meetings, chats, and files to ensure every edit or suggestion is relevant to current projects and professional relationships.Copilot is moving beyond simple creation to active "heavy lifting".