Newsom Partners with Anthropic to Allow California Government Use of Claude at Half Price

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22, 2026. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty ImagesCalifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced on June 29 that the state has partnered with San Francisco-based Anthropic to offer California government agencies access to Claude at a 50 percent discounted price.“AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians,” Newsom said in the announcement.The deal will give state agencies and local governments access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot, as well as training and assistance from Claude’s developers.Newsom’s office said the chatbot will be used to help state workers with a variety of tasks, such as drafting and summarizing documents as well as analyzing information.“As a California company, we feel a real responsibility to our home state. We’re honored to expand our partnership with California’s agencies and to put Claude to work for the people who keep this state running,” said Kate Jensen, Anthropic’s Head of Americas, in the announcement.The governor’s office said Claude has already been used in state government projects such as “Engaged California,” a platform for the public to give feedback on the topic of artificial intelligence; and “Poppy,” a state government-built chatbot for state workers.It also said Claude is used to improve California DMV efficiency, Department of Healthcare Services workflows, and cyber defense.The California partnership comes after Anthropic and the federal government clashed in February when the company refused to allow the military to use its technology for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons.On Feb. 27, President Donald Trump said he had ordered all federal agencies to cease the use of technology made by Anthropic.Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered his department to designate the company a supply-chain risk to national security, and said on X that the War Department “must have full, unrestricted access to Anthropic’s models for every LAWFUL purpose in defense of the Republic.”CEO Dario Amodei said he “cannot in good conscience accede to [the Pentagon’s] request,” and Anthropic later sued to challenge the Pentagon’s designation.“We have tried in good faith to reach an agreement with the Department of War, making clear that we support all lawful uses of AI for national security aside from [mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons],” the company stated.In March, a federal district court in California temporarily halted the supply-chain risk designation, but on April 8, a federal court in Washington ruled that the designation may hold.In a June 19 interview with Axios’s Marc Caputo, Trump said he no longer views Anthropic as a national security threat after he met with Amodei at the G7 summit.Anthropic confidentially filed for an initial public offering, it announced on June 1. Many expect the company to debut at over $1 trillion, which would immediately make it one of the world’s largest companies by market cap.