Newsom's office touts Anthropic 'partnership,' 50% discount on Claude AI for California agencies, localities

California state agencies and local governments may access Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence platform at a 50% discount, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said on Monday.

"Through the agreement, state agencies may access Anthropic’s AI productivity assistant, Claude, at a 50% discounted price, coupled with free workforce training as well as expert GenAI technical assistance and workflow input from Anthropic developers. The agreement also provides the same discounted offer for California’s local governments, including cities and counties," a press release announced.

"Claude is the first AI productivity tool that will be available to all State agencies though the California Department of Technology’s new Statewide Information Technology Shared Services (SITeS) portal. The portal centralizes AI tools in one place with transparent pricing around key business use cases — such as improving operational efficiency, enhancing data security, and optimizing state worker experience," the announcement continued. 

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Newsom, who has been in office since early 2019, is term limited from running again this year — he won re-election in 2022 after surviving a recall contest in 2021.

"This partnership is about using technology the California way: responsibly, transparently, and in service of people. 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," the governor said in a statement.

"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," Anthropic Head of Americas Kate Jensen said. "Building AI responsibly and in service of people has been our approach from the start, and that’s exactly what this partnership puts into practice."

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The governor's office indicated that the state has already been utilizing Claude.

"California has already implemented some use of Claude in state government, including using the tool to facilitate Engaged California, a first-in-the-nation deliberative democracy platform announced by Governor Newsom last year, that helps provide Californians with a stronger voice in policymaking," the office noted. "Claude was also used in the state’s development of Poppy – a simple AI tool designed by state workers for state workers through pre-built, easy-to-use queries tailored to common state business needs, facilitating more reliable, trustworthy outcomes.

"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," Anthropic Head of Americas Kate Jensen said in a statement. "Building AI responsibly and in service of people has been our approach from the start, and that’s exactly what this partnership puts into practice."

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"CDT and CalOES are partnering to use Claude for cyber defense — Claude Security and Claude Code for scanning, triaging, and patching state code. Among the largest agencies, CA DMV is using Claude to improve customer service and lower wait times, and CA Dept of Healthcare Services, the largest Medicaid Agency in the country, is using Claude for internal workflows to better assist Medicaid recipients," the press release said.