Anthropic's Claude Cowork now features a dedicated built-in browser that operates entirely separate from a user's personal Google Chrome data. The update isolates AI web activity from personal tabs, bookmarks, and saved passwords. The new built-in browser never accesses user logins unless they deliberately choose to share them.
Launched in January 2026 as a "research preview," Cowork brings the agentic architecture of Claude Code to the desktop app without requiring a terminal. Claude Code, by comparison, serves as Anthropic's command-line tool for developers.
Cross-Platform Availability
Anthropic recently expanded Cowork to function across web browsers, mobile phones, and desktop applications. The company merged all chat and Cowork projects into a single location, removing the dedicated Cowork tab from the desktop app.
Users now must manage a crucial setting in the top right corner that dictates whether the AI tasks run locally on their computer or in the cloud. Navigating this setting is considered the single most important element when utilizing the updated Cowork interface.
Microsoft 365 Integration
Microsoft has added agentic AI capabilities to Microsoft 365 Copilot, introducing its own version of Anthropic's Claude Cowork. Copilot Cowork brings long-running parallel task completion inside Microsoft 365 Copilot, expanding functionality far beyond just chat, according to Charles Lamanna, Microsoft's president for business apps and agents. This allows the agent to complete work in the background so that workers can focus their attention on other tasks.
These agentic capabilities are currently available in Word, Excel, and Copilot Chat, and will roll out to Outlook and PowerPoint soon. "We want to really move from a simple prompt and response to Copilot actually doing the work for you," stated Zoe Hawtof, senior technical advisor for Microsoft 365 Copilot.