Anaconda Ends R Support, Doubles Down on Python AI/ML (www.anaconda.com)

Anaconda announced it will deprecate and stop actively maintaining its R channel effective November 4, 2025: no new R package builds, version updates, or security fixes will be produced, though all previously built R packages will remain available and existing R environments will continue to run. The decision frees engineering resources to prioritize Python tooling and package distribution for AI/ML, reflecting that major modern frameworks (LLMs, computer vision libraries, training/inference stacks) are overwhelmingly Python-first. For R users this raises clear operational implications: continued use is possible but packages will become stale over time, introducing compatibility and security risks for production systems. Recommended migration paths are conda-forge (community-maintained R packages), native CRAN installs, or switching workflows to Python; enterprise customers can use Anaconda AI Platform to mirror conda-forge with governance, vulnerability matching, and access controls. Notably, R-in-Excel via Anaconda Code remains unaffected. Anaconda frames this as a strategic trade-off to accelerate Python support for AI/ML, offers professional services to help migrations, and says it may revisit language support in the future but has no current plans to reinstate active R maintenance.