OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic get green light for civilian AI use in US; soon could power government workdesks
This announcement comes from the General Services Administration (GSA), the government's main purchasing body. These AI tools, including OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude, will now be available through a central federal contracting platform called the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS).
Until now, government departments had to go through lengthy negotiations to use AI technologies. With the new arrangement, those tools can be bought and deployed much more quickly because contract terms have already been set.
GSA officials said the approved tools met performance and security standards, though the specific terms of the contracts have not been made public. The agency has previously used its purchasing power to get lower prices from big software firms like Adobe and Salesforce.
Officials added that other AI providers may be added later. These three firms were simply further along in the process.
'We're not choosing winners or losers,' said GSA Deputy Administrator Stephen Ehikian. 'We want as many tools as possible for different use cases across government departments.'
The move is expected to allow wider AI use beyond pilot programmes and national security. Agencies including the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have already shown interest.
In the past, AI has been tested in areas like patent processing, fraud detection, grant reviews, and copy editing.
OPM Director Scott Kupor said AI tools could be used to build chatbots for public queries or to quickly summarise thousands of public comments during policy changes, a job that usually takes weeks.
But he also pointed out a challenge: 'We're probably missing people who are super familiar with modern AI tools,' he said, suggesting departments may need to hire more tech-savvy staff.
'We can't just throw things against the wall and see what sticks,' he added.
This shift comes shortly after President Donald Trump signed new executive orders on AI. One of them requires that any AI tools used by federal agencies must be 'free from ideological bias'. Enforcing this rule will be handled by each agency separately, according to the GSA.
'This is a race,' said Josh Gruenbaum, who leads the GSA's Federal Acquisition Service. 'And as the president said, we're going to win it.'
While the Pentagon has already awarded separate AI contracts to OpenAI and Elon Musk's xAI, Tuesday's announcement focuses on AI use in civilian departments.
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