Microsoft to make Claude a default option for UK Copilot users
Anthropic processes the data in the US, and administrators will retain the ability to disable its models.
UK organizations using Microsoft Copilot will have Anthropic’s Claude models activated automatically from 9 December unless they have chosen a setting, The Register reported. Administrators will still be able to disable Claude.
The rollout extends to Researcher, Power Platform and Copilot Studio, alongside Copilot features within Microsoft 365 applications. Microsoft is withdrawing a separate control that confined Claude access to Microsoft 365 apps.
Anthropic processes the data in the US. Microsoft’s documentation describes Anthropic as a subprocessor: an outside provider handling customer information subject to Microsoft’s contracts and oversight. It says Copilot’s Claude models are excluded from both the EU Data Boundary and commitments to process data within a particular country.
The Register linked the UK change to the country’s exclusion from that boundary. Claude is already enabled automatically for most commercial customers, while the UK, EU and European Free Trade Association have until now been exceptions.
Separate administrator consent remains necessary worldwide for some advanced models, including Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5. Those models remain disabled by default because Anthropic retains their data mostly for periods of up to 30 days, Microsoft said.
