Topline
Anthropic’s latest bid to attract more founders and developers lasted just three days before a surge of hundreds of thousands of applications prompted it to pause free Claude Team and API credit offers, sparking backlash from users who say the company reneged on promised benefits.
CHONGQING, CHINA – DECEMBER 29: In this photo illustration, a person holds a smartphone displaying the logo of “Claude,” an AI language model by Anthropic, with the company’s logo visible in the background, illustrating the rapid development and adoption of generative AI technologies, on December 29, 2024 in Chongqing, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Anthropic announced the expanded Claude Startups program on Tuesday, offering eligible companies a free year of Claude Team for up to five premium users and $1,000 in API credits in an effort to continue “partnering closely with founders and developers,” which the company says is “central to our mission.”
Companies that were founded within the last five years or got funding in the last two years were eligible for the benefits and could apply through the Claude for Startups page, but Sarah Wolf, Anthropic’s head of startup marketing, said on X Thursday night that the company didn’t initially properly “tune the acceptance criteria,” which prompted many non-startups to gain access to the benefits.
Wolf said Claude Startup received 21 times the number of applications in the first 48 hours as the previous five months it had been live, which the company didn’t anticipate.
Wolf said Anthropic “let way too many people in this time,” and the company will send emails to those who haven’t claimed their benefits to re-verify the applications—meaning previously approved applicants who hadn’t yet claimed their benefits won’t be able to access them now, and could potentially get denied.
The move sparked backlash from users on X and Reddit, with one X user telling the company “now you’re associated with promises you can’t deliver on,” and asking why it didn’t “limit the number of applications in the first place.”
Some users on Reddit found the pause “unsurprising,” saying the verification process was “nonexistent,” while another said the “free lunch is over,” and “for many in this thread, the damage is done.”
KEY BACKGROUND
Claude Startups initially launched in May, and Anthropic announced the expanded program on Tuesday as part of its SF Tech Week, saying “we created this program because we believe the benefits of AI will reach most people through the companies that build on top of models, rather than through the models alone.” The expansion comes as Anthropic competes with other companies like OpenAI and Google, who also have startup programs and credit offerings.
BIG NUMBER
$45,000. This is the maximum Claude Startup members can receive in discounts and credits through the Claude Startup Stack, which is still available to accepted users.
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