Anthropic will offer its Claude AI model to the U.S. government for $1, the company said Tuesday.
Claude for Enterprise and Claude for Government will be available to all three branches of government, meaning federal agencies, legislative, and judiciary branches.
"America's AI leadership requires that our government institutions have access to the most capable, secure AI tools available," CEO Dario Amodei said.
The announcement comes just days after rival OpenAI struck a similar deal, gifting federal agencies ChatGPT Enterprise for $1, "helping public servants deliver for the American people," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a release.
Both ChatGPT and Claude, alongside Google $GOOGL's Gemini, have been added to a list of AI vendors approved for government use, the General Services Administration (GSA) revealed last week.
Federal workers will explore "a wide range of AI solutions, from simple research assistants powered by large language models to highly tailored, mission-specific applications," the GSA said. The AI models picked "prioritize truthfulness, accuracy, transparency, and freedom from ideological bias," the GSA added.
The approved list of vendors is part of the President Donald Trump's "AI Action Plan" released July 23. The plan identifies over 90 federal policy actions that the Trump administration will take in the coming weeks and months, focused on three pillars: Accelerating Innovation, Building American AI Infrastructure, and Leading in International Diplomacy and Security.
Cloud vendors have also been cashing in on the "Accelerating Innovation" part of the plan. Amazon $AMZN Web Services (AWS) is gifting federal agencies up to $1 billion in credits to be used on cloud services, modernization, and training through the end of 2028, the GSA said last week.
The "landmark agreement" positions AWS "to build the foundation for a more secure and innovative government of tomorrow," said AWS CEO Matt Garman.
Big Tech's close ties to Trump
Silicon Valley heavyweights have shown public support for the Trump administration throughout this year — and have been awarded numerous government contracts.
Amazon, which has invested $8 billion in Anthropic, contributed $1 million in cash to Trump’s inauguration and also provided an in-kind donation by streaming the ceremony on Prime Video, valued at another $1 million. The company also served as a corporate sponsor of the White House Easter Egg Roll in April.
Similarly, OpenAI executives donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee. In June, the company launched a new offering called OpenAI for Government and said it was awarded a contract of up to $200 million by the U.S. Department of Defense.
CEO Jeff Bezos has also reportedly been trying to secure more federal contracts for his space technology company Blue Origin, sources told The Wall Journal. Bezos and other Blue Origin executives met with Trump on at least two occasions in June, according to the report.
Former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron voiced concerns to The Atlantic in June that fear of a Trump backlash may be influencing media leaders such as Bezos, the Post's owner.
“They’re afraid of being made a target by Trump, that he’s going to do severe damage to their other commercial interests,” Baron said. “I think in the case of Bezos, he’s afraid of the impact that Trump can have on Amazon, which has enormous contracts — particularly in the area of cloud-computing services — with the federal government.”