Anthropic is offering its Claude AI chatbot to U.S. government agencies for just $1, stepping up efforts to become a key player in Washington’s rapidly evolving AI landscape. The Amazon-backed startup now joins OpenAI and Google in providing discounted access to AI tools as the federal government accelerates adoption across departments.

The announcement comes on the heels of a similar move by OpenAI, which recently offered ChatGPT Enterprise to government agencies at the same nominal price. Just last week, the U.S. government officially approved Claude, ChatGPT, and Google’s Gemini for federal use, thus clearing a path for these tools to power everything from national security to research and administrative operations.

“By offering expanded Claude access across all three branches of government, we're helping the federal workforce leverage frontier AI capabilities to maintain our competitive advantage and better serve the American people,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement.

The symbolic $1 offers reflect a broader strategy by AI companies: securing a foothold within government operations as a way to influence how AI is regulated, developed, and deployed. Federal agencies represent not only a major market but also a powerful endorsement in the global AI race.

Anthropic has already released models designed specifically for U.S. national security needs and has landed contracts from the Department of Defense, alongside Google, OpenAI, and xAI- Elon Musk’s AI venture, which has introduced a “Grok for Government” product line.

With OpenAI also planning to open a Washington, D.C. office, the push to win over policymakers is intensifying. Companies see long-term partnerships with federal agencies as critical, keeping in mind the revenue, elevated industry standards, and regulations perspective.

As the U.S. government lays the groundwork for responsible AI use, tech firms are racing to become its go-to providers. Their offers that are available for free are strategic intentions to become embedded in the infrastructure of AI governance and deployment.

Anthropic’s $1 offer is aimed with a clear objective to play a defining role in how AI supports, secures, and serves the public sector.