From AI classrooms to smarter governance: Karnataka teams up with Anthropic to boost AI adoption
The Karnataka government wants a long-term plan to become a major AI hub in India. Its plan focuses on three key areas: Governance, Startups, and educational institutions.
- Aug 6, 2026,
- Updated Aug 6, 2026 4:15 PM IST
The Karnataka government is exploring a partnership with Anthropic to improve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across governance, public services, education, and workforce development. Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar met with a delegation from Anthropic on August 6 to explore a long-term partnership.
Anthropic was represented by senior executives, including Michael Sellitto, Chris Ciauri, Irina Ghose, Amlan Mohanty, and Samarth Masson, during the discussions. Karnataka Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and Home, Priyank Kharge, arranged and facilitated the meeting between the Anthropic delegation and the Chief Minister.
AI for government, students and startups
Karnataka wants to use Anthropic's AI models to make government services more citizen-friendly and improve AI skilling across students, professionals, startups, and government employees. The govt has a long-term plan to become a major AI hub in India, which focuses on three key areas, including setting up a proposed AI University, launching large-scale AI skilling programmes for students, and supporting deep-tech startups and innovation.
Karnataka and Anthropic also discussed introducing AI certification programmes under the state's NIPUNA initiative, a skill development programme. The goal is to create one of India's largest pools of AI-certified professionals.
Must read: Anthropic introduces India pricing for Claude AI plans; Pricing starts at…
Responsible AI deployment
Alongside skilling, the state is also focusing on responsible AI use. Shivakumar said that Karnataka will follow a "Government First" approach, ensuring government data is hosted on local servers, with controlled access to datasets for AI innovation while safeguarding privacy and security. The state is setting up department-wise work groups, consisting of government officials and AI experts. These groups will study and identify practical AI use cases across various departments.
The groups also discussed how to adopt AI across AI systems and government infrastructure and protect these systems from cyberattacks, hacking, and misuse. AI usage should also focus on citizen data protection, privacy, and data sovereignty, making these principles the foundation for deploying AI across government services.
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The Karnataka government is exploring a partnership with Anthropic to improve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) across governance, public services, education, and workforce development. Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar met with a delegation from Anthropic on August 6 to explore a long-term partnership.
Anthropic was represented by senior executives, including Michael Sellitto, Chris Ciauri, Irina Ghose, Amlan Mohanty, and Samarth Masson, during the discussions. Karnataka Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and Home, Priyank Kharge, arranged and facilitated the meeting between the Anthropic delegation and the Chief Minister.
AI for government, students and startups
Karnataka wants to use Anthropic's AI models to make government services more citizen-friendly and improve AI skilling across students, professionals, startups, and government employees. The govt has a long-term plan to become a major AI hub in India, which focuses on three key areas, including setting up a proposed AI University, launching large-scale AI skilling programmes for students, and supporting deep-tech startups and innovation.
Karnataka and Anthropic also discussed introducing AI certification programmes under the state's NIPUNA initiative, a skill development programme. The goal is to create one of India's largest pools of AI-certified professionals.
Must read: Anthropic introduces India pricing for Claude AI plans; Pricing starts at…
Responsible AI deployment
Alongside skilling, the state is also focusing on responsible AI use. Shivakumar said that Karnataka will follow a "Government First" approach, ensuring government data is hosted on local servers, with controlled access to datasets for AI innovation while safeguarding privacy and security. The state is setting up department-wise work groups, consisting of government officials and AI experts. These groups will study and identify practical AI use cases across various departments.
The groups also discussed how to adopt AI across AI systems and government infrastructure and protect these systems from cyberattacks, hacking, and misuse. AI usage should also focus on citizen data protection, privacy, and data sovereignty, making these principles the foundation for deploying AI across government services.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine