Anthropic recently escalated its competition with OpenAI, offering its Claude AI models to all three branches of the U.S. government for a symbolic $1. This move directly counters OpenAI’s earlier offer, which was limited to the executive branch. While headlines might frame this as a price war, the real battle is being fought on a much more strategic level: infrastructure and security.
The Infrastructure Advantage
The most significant detail isn’t the price—it’s how the service is delivered. Anthropic is providing access to Claude via AWS, Google Cloud, and Palantir. This multi-cloud approach is a critical differentiator. It grants government agencies greater control, data sovereignty, and operational flexibility, allowing them to integrate AI within their existing secure infrastructure.
In contrast, OpenAI’s current official FedRAMP High offering is tied exclusively to Microsoft’s Azure Government Cloud. For government security teams, avoiding vendor lock-in and maintaining infrastructure control is a primary concern. Anthropic’s strategy directly addresses this, giving them a powerful edge not based on model performance alone, but on architectural freedom.
Security as a Product
Both companies are now on the General Services Administration’s approved vendor list, but Anthropic is heavily promoting its Claude for Government, which supports FedRAMP High workloads. This certification is a major hurdle that allows federal workers to handle sensitive, unclassified data. By building this security baseline into their offering, Anthropic is treating security not as a feature, but as a core part of the product.
The $1 offer is a classic foot-in-the-door strategy. The goal is to embed their systems deep within government workflows, from accelerating scientific research at national labs to improving public health services. The real prize isn’t the initial dollar; it’s the long-term contracts and the position as the trusted, secure, and flexible AI backbone for the public sector.
While OpenAI is reportedly working to reduce its reliance on Azure, Anthropic is already capitalizing on this strategic opening. This isn’t just about offering a powerful model; it’s about understanding the deep-seated needs of enterprise and government clients for whom control, security, and flexibility are non-negotiable.