Gov. Newsom expands AI’s role in state government with new Anthropic partnership
Gov. Gavin Newsom is expanding the role of artificial intelligence in state government by providing state employees access to Anthropic’s assistant Claude to help supplement day-to-day work.
The governor announced an agreement with the AI company that allows state agencies to use the technology to analyze information, draft and summarize documents and improve services.
Newsom said in a statement that the partnership was meant to use AI “responsibly, transparently, and in service of people,” noting that the technology is not meant to replace state workers.
“As state employees, our goal is to provide our fellow Californians with the best possible service,” Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros said in a statement. “To do that, we need to make sure our teams have access to the best modern tools, including Claude and other emerging technologies.”
The technology will be available to all state agencies through a new portal managed by the California Department of Technology, according to the governor’s announcement. The state received a 50% discount on the price of the service, an offer that is available to local governments in California, the governor noted. A spokesperson for CDT did not immediately answer questions about how much the state has allocated for the use of Anthropic’s technology.
The state is already using Anthropic’s technology in various departments. The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and CDT have begun using Claude for cybersecurity purposes and the Department of Motor Vehicles is using the technology to reduce customer wait times.
“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,” Anthropic’s Head of Americas Kate Jensen said in a statement.
In recent years, Newsom has embraced AI tools in state government with varying degrees of success.
As part of Newsom’s 2023 executive order directing agencies to find uses for the technology, several departments piloted projects with the intent of making government more efficient.
But about half of those projects, which included an internal AI assistant to help the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration answer taxpayers’ questions, were discontinued after departments did not realize sufficient improvements from the technologies.
The Newsom administration has also assembled a council to provide advice on how California can use the technology responsibly; rolled out an AI-powered “digital assistant” that government employees can use to find policy information; and unveiled training for state workers on artificial intelligence.
