AI companies are chasing government users with steep discounts
Within the last week, both OpenAI and Anthropic have introduced special prices for government versions of their generative AI chatbots, ChatGPT and Claude, and xAI announced its Grok for Government in mid-July. OpenAI and Anthropic are both offering their chatbots to federal agencies for one year for a nominal price of $1. Anthropic appeared to try to one-up OpenAI's announcement by saying all three branches of government could access a special price for Claude, while ChatGPT will be available to the executive branch for the low intro price.
Securing government customers can be a great way for tech businesses to secure large userbases and income. The US government says it spends more than $100 billion a year on 'IT and cyber-related investments, including the purchase of software licenses.' That $1 price follows a tried-and-true enterprise software playbook used by companies like Slack: get as many users as you can in hopes that a service becomes so valuable that employers have to keep paying for it, eventually at a much higher cost. Already, Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI have each secured contracts that could be worth up to $200 million to help modernize the US Defense Department. As they jockey for power in other parts of the government, giving their product away nearly for free (at first) could help give OpenAI or Anthropic an edge.
As the government struggles over how and whether to regulate AI, there could also be a soft power benefit to getting its workers familiar with and reliant on these services — and perhaps, by extension, more reluctant to kneecap them. OpenAI, in its announcement, claimed its offering 'delivers on a core pillar of the Trump Administration's AI Action Plan by making powerful AI tools available across the federal government so that workers can spend less time on red tape and paperwork, and more time doing what they came to public service to do: serve the American people.'
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All by Lauren Feiner
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All AI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Analysis
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Anthropic
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All OpenAI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Policy
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All Report
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
See All xAI
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DC reporter who fled city touts crime as 'major problem'
Anna Giaritelli, a Washington D.C. reporter attacked in 2020 who left the city after her attacker was repeatedly set free on multiple occasions, supports President Trump 'taking action' against crime.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Husted 'surprised' by reports of U.S. Senate challenge from Sherrod Brown
Aug. 13—Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, at a Dayton-area event on Wednesday, reacted to reports that he'll face former longtime U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, in the 2026 election. "Look, I don't know who's gonna run. Maybe he'll run, maybe he won't. But I will say that it surprised me, honestly," Husted told reporters during an event at Sinclair Community College. "I mean, what are we, 14 months, 16 months away from the election? He just lost one ten months ago." There's been plenty of talk about Brown, one of the state's only Democrats with considerable name recognition, since he lost his bid for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate to Ohio Republican Bernie Moreno in November 2024. Brown lost that election by 3.6 percentage points in an election where President Donald Trump won the state by more than 11 points. The overperformance helped paint Brown as a viable gubernatorial candidate to challenge presumed GOP nominee Vivek Ramaswamy. Instead, recent reports from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and others indicate that Brown has decided to try to reclaim a spot in the U.S. Senate — the seat Husted currently holds. Husted, who was appointed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to serve out the remainder of a Senate term originally won by Vice President JD Vance, shrugged off the idea of a Brown challenge, noting that he'd rather not talk politics. "Let's get some work done. Let's focus on actually solving problems at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Sinclair Community College and those places before we start talking politics," Husted said. "But, if he chooses to run, he's been around for 50 years in elected office. They spent $300 million on him just ten months ago, and he lost. So, we'll see." ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jobs safest and most at risk of AI takeover as Australia begins major transition: 'Opportunity'
Aussies who are worried about artificial intelligence (AI) taking over their job may want to consider picking up a trade or a job in nursing and steer clear of administrative and clerical jobs, new research has found. AI will have an impact on almost all occupations in Australia; however, for most people, it will change rather than replace their jobs. A 'landmark' new study by Jobs and Skills Australia has found generative AI has the capacity to augment a wide variety of tasks and most occupations. Commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia, Professor Barney Glover, said it presents both opportunities and challenges. 'There is a tremendous opportunity for Australia and our workforce to boost our productivity and create new ways of working,' he said. RELATED Microsoft reveals 40 jobs most and least likely to be affected by AI Hidden $3,000 per year cost of cashless revolt as record number of banknotes hoarded Brisbane's Ekka Show responds after $55 burger sparks fury 'As a nation, we need to be conscious that generative artificial intelligence has the potential to augment the work we do, as well as to automate some tasks. 'This has the potential to displace people in some jobs, particularly administrative and clerical roles.' Glover said the impact of AI would differ across geographical location, industry and occupation, and would change over time as emerging technologies further change the way we work. 'Adaptability will be critical for Australia to realise the potential benefits from AI, which will see new jobs emerge and existing jobs change,' he said. A poll of more than 2,600 Yahoo Finance readers found 41 per cent of readers were worried their job would soon be overtaken by AI, with 7 per cent saying it already had been. The report comes at a "critical early point" in our transition towards generative jobs are most at risk from AI? Office clerks, receptionists, bookkeepers, sales, marketing and public relations professionals, and business and systems analysts and programmers would lose the most employment by 2050, the report found. In comparison, cleaners and laundry workers, midwives and nurses, business administration managers, construction and mining labourers, and hospitality workers would gain the most. 'Many clerical tasks – that were not affected by previous waves of automation – could now be undertaken in large part by Gen AI,' the report said. 'Higher skill levels reveal greater exposure to medium automation potential, suggesting highly skilled occupations could discover new efficiencies based on the current technology.' Around one in five occupations had a 'medium to high likelihood' of automation by AI. But nearly half of workers were in jobs with low automation and medium augmentation, which the report said means they were likely to experience 'change rather than disruption'. More businesses adopt AI Gen AI adoption is still at an early stage in Australia, but it has increased significantly in the last two years. In 2024, the vast majority of ASX200 mentioned investing in technology, with more than half mentioning AI-related investments. Some companies are focused on improving interactions with customers through things like chatbots, while others are streamlining internal processes or enhancing their existing offers. Commonwealth Bank recently announced it was axing dozens of roles in its customer call centres, citing artificial intelligence. The major bank introduced a new chatbot system to answer simple customer inquiries in June. Telstra has said its workforce will be smaller in 2030 as it finds new ways to leverage technology, including AI. It recently cut more than 550 roles across its business but said it was 'not a result' of its adoption of AI. Tech giant Atlassian cut 150 customer service and support roles last month, noting some tasks would now be completed by AI. Fast food chains Hungry Jack's has also been trialling the use of AI drive-thru assistants, with KFC also trialling the tech last year but stressing it wasn't replacing any jobs.
