Anthropic and Gov. Newsom forge deal allowing California government to use Claude at half price

Governor Newsom and Anthropic have agreed to allow California state agencies and local governments to use Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, at a discounted price, along with training and support from the company. The deal is intended to help state employees draft documents and analyze information while maintaining that AI should assist rather than replace government work. This agreement follows the Governor's earlier executive order to accelerate AI use in government while maintaining stronger safety standards. The deal represents a divergence from federal government actions, as the U.S. Department of Defense previously rejected Anthropic's protections against surveillance and autonomous weapons deployment and instead signed with a rival company, while declaring Anthropic a "supply-chain risk."