Sweden’s government is blocking ChatGPT and Claude on staff computers from Monday

Sweden's Government Offices (Regeringskansliet), which runs the prime minister's office and every ministry, is blocking OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude on staff work computers starting Monday, Sveriges Radio's Ekot reported on Friday, directing employees to Microsoft's Copilot instead. Mikael Wettercrantz, the Government Offices' director of digitalisation, warned on the staff intranet that using AI services without a contract could have "consequences for our information security"; the press office said certain employees can still reach both chatbots through an AI-assistant platform the Government Offices built itself. The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) and the National Board of Institutional Care (SiS) have already imposed similar blocks and the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) is considering one, while Copilot itself can run Anthropic's Claude models in features such as Researcher and Copilot Studio, with those models excluded from Microsoft's EU Data Boundary.

The logos of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude illustrative . Image: OpenAI logo LobeHub Icons, MIT , Claude logo Simple Icons, CC0 ; trademarks of their owners Civil servants in Sweden’s government will no longer be able to open ChatGPT or Claude on their work computers from Monday. The Government Offices Regeringskansliet , which runs the prime minister’s office and every ministry, is blocking both chatbots on staff machines and pointing employees to Microsoft’s Copilot instead, Sveriges Radio’s news programme Ekot reported https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/chat-gpt-och-claude-forbjuder-regeringskansliet on Friday. The block applies to the computers staff use for work, and it isn’t a ban on AI. Employees are being told to stick to the AI services the Government Offices has approved, and Copilot is one of them. According to internal information Ekot has seen, the Government Offices also tightened Copilot’s security after reviewing the tool. Its press office wouldn’t go into detail, saying the matter concerns security. “Consequences for our information security” The reasoning comes from Mikael Wettercrantz, the Government Offices’ director of digitalisation. He turned down an interview with Ekot, but in a post on the staff intranet he warned that using AI services without a contract could have “consequences for our information security”. That is the line being drawn: Copilot is a service the Government Offices has approved, while staff opening ChatGPT or Claude on the web were using them with no agreement in place. Some will keep both chatbots anyway. The press office told Ekot that certain employees can still reach ChatGPT and Claude through an AI-assistant platform the Government Offices has built itself, without saying who or how many. Use of China’s DeepSeek, which many governments now bar from official devices https://madrobot.blog/2026/10/20/is-deepseek-banned-countries-us-uk-india-australia-canada/ , was already restricted. Neither OpenAI nor Anthropic has commented publicly. Copilot can run Claude too There is a twist. Copilot isn’t only Microsoft’s own AI. Microsoft’s documentation https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/connect-to-ai-subprocessor says Copilot can use Anthropic’s Claude models in features such as Researcher, Copilot Studio and the Copilot tools in Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with Anthropic working as a Microsoft subprocessor under Microsoft’s contract terms. Those Claude models are excluded from Microsoft’s EU Data Boundary, its commitment to process European customers’ data inside the EU. For organisations in the EU, the EFTA countries and the UK, the main setting that lets staff use Anthropic’s models is off by default, so administrators decide. The Government Offices hasn’t said whether Claude is switched on inside its Copilot. Not the first Swedish agency to do it The Swedish Tax Agency Skatteverket and the National Board of Institutional Care SiS , which runs secure youth homes and addiction treatment centres, have already brought in similar blocks, and the Swedish Enforcement Authority Kronofogden is considering one, according to Ekot. Elsewhere governments are moving the other way: the US health department says only Claude will do for its staff https://madrobot.blog/2026/10/21/hhs-sole-source-award-anthropic-claude-only-ai-pentagon-ban/ . The decision also lands awkwardly for the man at the top. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson came under fire in August 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/05/chat-gpt-swedish-pm-ulf-kristersson-under-fire-for-using-ai-in-role after telling the business paper Dagens industri that he used ChatGPT and Mistral’s Le Chat for a second opinion: I use it myself quite often. If for nothing else than for a second opinion. What have others done? And should we think the complete opposite? Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, to Dagens industri His spokesperson, Tom Samuelsson, said at the time that “it is not security sensitive information that ends up there”. Virginia Dignum, a professor of responsible AI at Umeå University, put the objection more bluntly to Dagens Nyheter: We must demand that reliability can be guaranteed. We didn’t vote for ChatGPT. Virginia Dignum, Umeå University, to Dagens Nyheter Ekot’s report doesn’t say whether the prime minister’s own use is affected. Why it matters Governments are starting to choose AI by contract rather than by brand, and the chatbots staff reach for first are being swapped for whatever comes with an agreement attached. It also shows how thin the line can be: the same data rules that separate one chatbot from another https://madrobot.blog/2026/09/24/ai-chatbot-privacy-compared-openai-anthropic-google-meta-microsoft-apple/ decide whether Claude reaches Swedish officials through Copilot instead. Sources: Sveriges Radio Ekot https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/chat-gpt-och-claude-forbjuder-regeringskansliet ; Microsoft Learn: Anthropic models in Microsoft Online Services https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot/connect-to-ai-subprocessor ; The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/05/chat-gpt-swedish-pm-ulf-kristersson-under-fire-for-using-ai-in-role August 2025 .