California partners with Anthropic for 50% off Claude AI

California Governor Gavin Newsom has finalized a partnership with artificial intelligence company Anthropic to provide its Claude AI assistant to all state agencies and local governments at a 50 percent discount. The agreement, announced on June 29, 2026, aims to integrate the technology into government operations to improve efficiency while emphasizing it will assist, not replace, human workers.

Under the deal, every state agency and participating local government can deploy Claude for internal tasks such as drafting documents, analyzing information, and streamlining administrative workflows. Anthropic will provide free workforce training, technical support, and expert assistance to government employees. The state's Department of Technology will manage access through a new portal.

Governor Newsom stated the partnership is about using technology responsibly and in service of people, asserting that AI should help workers move faster and solve problems more effectively. Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros echoed that the goal is to ensure state teams have access to the best modern tools to provide better service. Anthropic's Head of the Americas, Kate Jensen, said...