Anthropic opens Claude for Government to civilian agencies

Anthropic's launch of Claude for Government comes after the platform's open beta in July and targets civilian agencies because the Pentagon bans Claude. The Pentagon's March designation of Anthropic as a supply chain risk followed the company's refusal to drop its bans on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. Trump ordered all agencies to drop Claude, but the military still used it in the Iran war before removing it. In late August, a San Francisco judge struck down one of two designations as unlawful retaliation, and in late September a Washington appeals court upheld the other. CEO Dario Amodei's dinner with Trump on Sunday suggests tensions may be easing, but that may not last. The new offering gives agencies the same features as enterprise customers with usage-based pricing and fixed caps, plus department-level budget and access controls, audit logs, and two-person approval for sensitive actions. Chats stay on agency devices, which may appeal to agencies with strict data-handling requirements. Whether the Pentagon lifts its ban and how the remaining legal designation resolves will determine whether Anthropic can expand further into federal use.