Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Anthropic have entered into an agreement that will allow California government agencies to use Claude at a discounted price. The agreement comes at a time when companies are struggling to manage the high costs of enterprise subscriptions to AI tools.
Through this agreement, all state agencies and local governments will have access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot, and receive training and support from Anthropic. Claude will assist state employees with document preparation and information analysis, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“AI should not replace human jobs in government. It should help our employees act faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better outcomes for Californians,” Governor Newsom said in a statement.
The deal follows Newsom’s March executive order aimed at accelerating the use of AI “to make government more efficient” while maintaining stronger safety standards.
“While other companies in Washington are crafting policy and writing contracts in the shadow of abuse, we are focused on doing this the right way,” Newsom said at the time.
As Anthropic forges closer ties with California, the federal government has turned on OpenAI’s rivals. Earlier this year, Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense clashed over a contract that would give government agencies permission to legally use Claude. Anthropic sought to explicitly create safeguards that would prevent the government from using its technology to surveil American citizens or deploy autonomous weapons without human oversight. However, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth rejected this, and the Pentagon instead awarded a contract to OpenAI. The government even declared Anthropic a “supply chain risk” and prohibited the company from working with other Pentagon contractors.
Although the state’s policy clearly diverges from federal action, Chris Given, California’s CIO and Secretary of Technology, told POLITICO that the supply chain risk designation “didn’t come up” during negotiations for the Humanity Contract.
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