The US government has approved OpenAI, Google and Anthropic as official AI vendors for civilian federal agencies, paving the way for a major expansion in the public sector’s use of generative AI.
The US government has approved OpenAI, Google and Anthropic as official AI vendors for civilian federal agencies.
Announced by the General Services Administration (GSA), the move adds the three companies – makers of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude respectively – to its Multiple Award Schedule, a federal contracting platform that simplifies procurement by pre-negotiating terms.
Until now, most federal agencies had to navigate lengthy individual contracts for each AI tool.
GSA Deputy Administrator Stephen Ehikia said in a statement: “This is about providing the maximum number of tools to make government employees as productive as possible.
“There’s going to be different tools for different use cases.”
The decision follows new executive orders signed by President Donald Trump, including a directive that agencies must use AI tools “free from ideological bias”.
The GSA said enforcement will happen agency by agency, but acknowledged that the US is now in a global race to lead in AI.
Josh Gruenbaum, commissioner of the GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said: “As the president said, we’re going to win this race.”
Under the previous administration, agencies had already begun exploring AI to detect tax fraud, process patent applications, and streamline grant reviews.
Now, the addition of these three tech giants signals a broader rollout.
The Office of Personnel Management plans to deploy AI-powered customer service chatbots and tools to summarise public comments on regulations.
OPM Director Scott Kupor noted the importance of hiring employees who understand modern AI systems, saying: “We’re probably missing people who are super conversant with very modern, AI-related stuff.”
More companies may be added to the GSA’s approved vendor list as the programme expands.
OpenAI, Google and Anthropic become approved vendors for US civilian AI contracts
