Gov. Wes Moore announces partnership with 2 AI firms to help streamline Maryland agencies

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced a statewide partnership with two artificial intelligence companies on Thursday, aiming to streamline state government and workforce processes.

The two companies, Anthropic and Percepta, plan to integrate their AI services into multiple agencies, including the Maryland Department of Labor and Department of the Environment, Moore wrote in a statement. The Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic organization, is financially supporting the effort.

“Leveraging AI will accelerate our push to fight poverty, turn renters into homeowners, and ensure every Marylander can access essential services like nutrition and financial support,” Moore said in the announcement.

Under the partnership, state workers will get access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, while Percepta will embed staff within agencies to facilitate AI adoption. The announcement did not specify exactly how workers will use Claude or how many will gain access.

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“Claude will supercharge the work of public servants to make government more accessible and responsive,” Thiyagu Ramasamy, Anthropic’s public sector head, said in the announcement.

Maryland residents applying for benefits like food stamps can wait up to 30 days to receive them, according to the Maryland Department of Human Services website. The state’s new partnership aims to reduce these wait times and streamline the permitting process for new housing, though state officials did not provide specific targets or timelines in the announcement.

Maryland will also launch a Claude-powered virtual assistant to help residents apply for benefits and find programs they qualify for. A similar chatbot was launched in June and helped connect more than 600,000 kids to summer food benefits, according to the announcement.

“Artificial Intelligence can be a powerful tool for change,” Moore said. “We’ve been clear since Day One that it wouldn’t be enough to rebuild someone else’s broken government — we need to innovate.”