Sweden's Government Offices block ChatGPT and Claude on staff work computers

Sweden's Government Offices (Regeringskansliet) will block ChatGPT and Claude on staff work computers from Monday, Sveriges Radio's Ekot reports, so that staff use approved services such as Microsoft Copilot. Digitalisation director Mikael Wettercrantz wrote on the intranet that using AI services without a contract can have consequences for information security, and internal information seen by Ekot says Copilot's security has also been raised after a review, though the press office would not give details. Some staff will keep access to ChatGPT and Claude through an AI assistant platform the Government Offices built themselves. Ekot found that the Swedish Tax Agency and the National Board of Institutional Care (Sis) have also brought in blocks, and the Enforcement Authority is preparing a position. On Hacker News (314 points, 117 comments), 11 of the 33 top-level commenters call it a sensible or routine IT policy that keeps government data with vetted, contracted vendors. Eight suspect it mainly favours Microsoft, since Copilot stays approved, and one of them asks what the extra Copilot security actually is. Five frame it around distrust of US AI and cloud firms or a wish for local, sovereign tools. The other nine add context or side points, including one noting that the rule covers one agency, the Government Offices, not all of Sweden's government. No consensus. Sorted take: This is not a verdict on ChatGPT or Claude but a common move to steer staff towards tools under contract. If your team puts work data into personal AI accounts, agree which tools are approved and what data can go into them.