Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion in a new unit called "Frontier Company" that puts 6,000 engineers directly at enterprise customers. The goal is to integrate AI into core processes with measurable ROI, not more experimentation. Microsoft is positioning itself as a platform-neutral alternative to OpenAI and Anthropic, which push their own models through their own deployment companies.

Microsoft Frontier Company will embed engineering experts at customers to co-design, co-innovate, and continuously improve their AI systems, Microsoft said.

Microsoft Frontier company will deploy 6,000 engineers to deliver enterprise AI outcomes. AWS launched a $1B version two days earlier. OpenAI and Anthropic too.