California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a partnership with Anthropic that will give state agencies and local governments discounted access to Claude, the company’s AI chatbot, along with associated training and support. The deal arrives as many organisations grapple with the rising costs of enterprise AI subscriptions, and is positioned by the state as a way to help government employees draft documents and analyse information more efficiently.
Newsom said AI should not replace the human work of government but should instead help public employees move faster and deliver better outcomes for Californians. The agreement builds on an executive order Newsom signed in March aimed at accelerating responsible AI adoption across state government while maintaining strong safety standards, with Newsom previously framing California’s approach as a deliberate contrast to federal AI policy.
The California deal stands in sharp contrast to Anthropic’s relationship with the federal government. Earlier this year, the company clashed with the Department of Defense after refusing to drop protections preventing its technology from being used for surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons deployment without human oversight. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ultimately signed a competing contract with OpenAI instead, and the Pentagon later designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk, barring it from working with other defense contractors.
California’s CIO and Department of Technology director Chris Given said the federal designation did not factor into negotiations over the state’s new agreement with Anthropic.
