Microsoft’s own data suggests AI is more expensive than hiring humans, as a mystery firm burns USD 500 million on Claude in one month

Microsoft Chief Executicve (CEO) Satya Nadella takes part in the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment Event during the G7 Summit at the Borgo Egnazia resort.
(Image credit: Getty Images | MANDEL NGAN)

When generative AI surged into mainstream adoption across organizations worldwide, concerns about job security quickly followed. Executives at major tech companies have cautioned that the technology could eventually render many professional roles obsolete.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has argued that AI will replace humans in most professions, except for biologists, energy experts, and coders. He believes that these roles are too complex to be fully automated. More recently, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman claimed white-collar jobs would vanish within the next 18 months as the technology becomes more prevalent.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that the company uses AI to generate up to 30% of its code. But perhaps more interestingly, the company opened Claude Code for its employees in December, including developers, project managers, and designers, allowing them to interact and experiment with the AI-coding assistant directly in their workflows.

However, Claude Code gained vast popularity among Microsoft employees over the past six months, which has seemingly led to a pullback on its Claude Code push in favor of its own GitHub Copilot CLI. The company expects its employees to fully transition to its in-house offering by the end of June.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft’s pivot to GitHub Copilot CLI does not affect its broader Foundry partnership with Anthropic, which includes a multibillion-dollar investment and customer access to Claude models. Still, the move suggests the company may be struggling to justify the scale of employee reliance on its coding agent (via Fortune).

The change does not alter Microsoft's broader Foundry arrangement with Anthropic, which involves a multibillion-dollar commitment and customer access to Claude models. However, it does suggest that internal use may have become hard to justify at the scale employees were using it.

According to a recent report by The Information, Microsoft could be getting ready to dip its foot in the coding pool with a new model, which is set to be released this week during its annual developer conference — Build 2026.

Elsewhere, a mysterious corporation blew $500 million in a single month on Claude AI after forgetting to set usage limits for Claude licenses for employees last month (via Axios).

"An AI consultant tells Axios one of their clients recently spent half a billion dollars in a single month after failing to put usage limits on Claude licenses for employees."

This news arrives at a pivotal moment, as investors grow increasingly uneasy about the soaring costs of AI with little profit to show. Market analysts warn that investor interest is fading, and it may only be a matter of time before they jump ship, especially as reports portraying AI as a bubble on the brink of collapse continue to flood online.


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Kevin Okemwa
Contributor

Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music.

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