Microsoft AI Updates: March 31, 2026

1. Copilot Cowork Enters Frontier Early Access

Microsoft launched Copilot Cowork in its Frontier early-access program on March 30, making it available to a broader set of enterprise customers for the first time. Cowork handles long-running, multi-step work across Microsoft 365 — users describe the outcome they want, and the system creates a plan, reasons across tools and files, and carries work forward with visible progress and opportunities to steer. The feature integrates skills from both Anthropic’s Claude and Microsoft’s own models, covering workflows from one-off tasks to repeatable processes like monthly budget reviews. Source

2. Microsoft Adds Claude to Vet Copilot Researcher Outputs

Microsoft introduced a new “Critique” feature for Copilot Researcher that uses Anthropic’s Claude to review and verify responses generated by OpenAI’s GPT. In the multi-model workflow, GPT generates the initial response while Claude audits it for accuracy and quality before presenting results to the user. Microsoft reported the approach improved performance by 13.8% on the DRACO benchmark. The company also announced “Model Council,” a feature that lets users compare responses from different AI models side-by-side. Source