Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Anthropic have made a deal which allows California government agencies to use Claude at a reduced price. This agreement comes at a time when companies are struggling to manage the high costs of enterprise subscriptions to artificial intelligence tools.
Under the agreement, all state agencies and local governments will have access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot, as well as training and support from Anthropic. A news release from the Governor’s office says Claude will help state employees draft documents and analyze information.
“AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better outcomes for Californians,” Governor Newsom said in a statement.
This agreement follows the departure of Newsom executive order which aims to accelerate the use of AI “to make government more efficient” while maintaining stricter security standards.
“While others in Washington design policies and create contracts in the shadow of misuse, we are focused on doing it the right way,” Newsom said. saying At the moment.
As Anthropic forges a closer relationship with the state of California, the federal government has turned rival OpenAI into an enemy. Earlier this year, Anthropic and the US Department of Defense they collided about a contract that would give the government agency permission to use Claude for any legal use. Anthropic sought to explicitly create protections that prevent the government from using its technology to surveil Americans or deploy autonomous weapons without human oversight. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused, and the agency signed an agreement with OpenAI. The government even declared Anthropo a “supply chain risk”, preventing the company from working with other Pentagon contractors.
While the state’s path is clearly moving away from the federal government’s actions, CIO and Director of the California Department of Technology Chris Given he told POLITICO that the supply chain risk designation “simply did not arise” while this Anthropic contract was being negotiated.
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