Anthropic just raised the stakes in the federal AI race. The company is offering its Claude AI models to all three branches of the U.S. government for just $1 per year. That’s the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. The deal lasts one year.
The offer comes hot on the heels of OpenAI’s similar $1-per-agency yearly plan—but OpenAI so far targets only the executive branch workforce.
Anthropic is aiming to expand its reach across the entire federal system, not just the executive agencies. 
“We believe the U.S. public sector should have access to the most advanced AI capabilities to tackle complex challenges, from scientific research to constituent services,” Anthropic said in a statement.
“By combining broad accessibility with uncompromising security standards, we’re helping ensure AI serves the public interest.”
Anthropic will provide two packages: Claude for Enterprise and Claude for Government. The government version supports FedRAMP High, meaning it can handle sensitive but unclassified federal workloads.
FedRAMP High is a tough security certification for federal data handling. Anthropic also promises technical support to help agencies integrate Claude into their workflows.
The company made a big push after being added to the General Services Administration’s approved AI vendor list along with OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
Anthropic is already working with places like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to speed up scientific discoveries, plus the D.C. Department of Health to improve access to health services in multiple languages.
Claude runs on partnerships with AWS, Google Cloud, and Palantir, allowing agencies to use existing secure infrastructure and keep data control.
This multi-cloud approach might give Anthropic an edge over OpenAI, which currently ties its FedRAMP High service to Azure Government Cloud only. Some agencies prefer multi-cloud for flexibility and data sovereignty.
OpenAI is working to diversify its cloud approach but hasn’t rolled it out yet.
Anthropic and others, including OpenAI, xAI, and Google, received up to $200 million from the Department of Defense to use AI for national security, but Anthropic clearly wants a broader government footprint—including science and health sectors.
