Anthropic brings Claude to civilian agencies as its fight with the Pentagon drags on
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Anthropic has launched Claude for Government, a new service targeting US federal and state civilian agencies while its relationship with the Pentagon remains strained. The platform operates in a FedRAMP High environment and has been available in open beta since July. This move comes after the Department of Defense banned Claude due to Anthropic's refusal to remove restrictions on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Although President Trump ordered all agencies to discontinue use of the model, tensions appear to be easing following a recent dinner between CEO Dario Amodei and Trump. The government offering provides features similar to enterprise plans, including fixed cost caps and strict administrative controls like audit logs. Data privacy is maintained by keeping chats on agency devices rather than external servers. Legal challenges regarding the Pentagon's designations have seen mixed results, with one ruling struck down as unlawful retaliation while another was upheld. Despite these legal hurdles, the expansion into civilian sectors allows Anthropic to continue serving public sector clients amid ongoing political friction.
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