US Department of Justice Seeks to Reinstate Federal Ban on Anthropic, While Government Procurement Agency Strikes Claude Discount Deal with the Company

Odaily reports: The U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal on October 26, seeking to reinstate a government-wide ban on AI company Anthropic. However, the next day, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced an expansion of its partnership with Anthropic, allowing government agencies to use Claude at a 40% discount, on a pay-as-you-go basis with no minimum spending commitment required.

Previously, in February of this year, the GSA backed the Trump administration's ban on Anthropic and removed Claude from government procurement lists. In March, a California court halted the blanket ban, and the GSA restored its procurement eligibility in April. In August, the court further ruled that the government's broad ban was unlawful. Although the Department of Justice has now appealed, the original ruling will not automatically be suspended.

Anthropic disclosed that approximately 500 U.S. federal, state, and local government organizations currently use Claude, with usage by federal civilian agencies growing roughly 20-fold over the past year.