Photo Credit: X/ Governor Newsom Press Office
(CALIFORNIA) - Claude AI is expanding throughout California’s state and local government, thanks to an agreement between Gov. Gavin Newsom and Anthropic. The deal makes the AI tool the first of its kind available to all factions of the California government. Essentially, government agencies receive approximately half off the original cost of Claude, and Anthropic provides free workforce training and technical support.
This deal comes amid ongoing controversy between Anthropic and Pres. Donald Trump’s Administration, following disagreements on military applications for Claude. For a little background on the issue, allegedly, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that Anthropic open its AI technology for unrestricted military use during a meeting with the company Feb. 24. Hegseth gave Anthropic until Feb. 27 to comply or risk losing government contracts.
Anthropic states it refuses to let the AI technology be used for mass surveillance or to develop fully automated weapons systems. In response to Anthropic's refusal, the federal government has deemed Anthropic as a national supply chain risk, and restricted the deployment of the company's most advanced AI. Pres. Trump even encouraged U.S. agencies to stop using the company's technologies this past February, a move that is less likely to hurt Anthropic's bottomline as it is to create unnecessary downtime and expenses for the U.S. agencies that follow suit.
Photo Credit: Anthropic / Claude AI
California officials, including Newsom, didn’t make the deal to create tension with the federal government. The ultimate goal is to lower the cost of Anthropic's Claude AI services through bulk purchasing, while standardizing software across California’s government agencies. The standardization of software across government agencies makes training easier, creates less room for error, and increases overall efficiency. That doesn’t mean California officials didn’t prepare for some blowback.
Newsom signed an order (N-5-26) earlier this year that raised standards for any AI companies looking to contract with California, gave the state more say in what AI technologies it uses, and requires agencies to perform a full review of any companies deemed a supply chain risk by the federal government (before excluding the company from contract bids). This means simply being designated a supply chain risk would also not be enough to prevent a company from being contracted – clearly the case with Anthropic.
Claude AI is already used in California as an AI assistant for state employees (Poppy), for DMV customer service, internal workflow support for Medicaid Services, and for early detection of vulnerabilities in government information networks and systems. Many California officials feel the move simply made sense.
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at kristin.h@lead4earth.org.
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