Claude AI is an artificial intelligence model that can act as a chatbot and AI assistant, like Google’s ChatGPT and Gemini.
Named after Claude E. Shannon, sometimes referred to as the “father of information theory,” Claude is designed to assist in writing, coding, customer service and information retrieval.
Claude was developed by Anthropic, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees that focuses on security and AI research. Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, was vice president of research at OpenAI. His sister, Daniela Amodei, is president of Anthropic.
Anthropic has attracted significant investment from major technology players. As of 2023, Amazon has invested $8 billion in the company. As part of the agreement, Anthropic has committed to using Amazon Web Services as its main cloud provider and making its artificial intelligence models accessible to AWS customers. The 2024 agreement calls for expanding the use of Amazon’s AI chips to train and run Anthropic’s large language models. Google initially invested $500 million and plans to invest another $1.5 billion in the future.
What can Claude do now? Here’s everything you need to know, including models, plans, pricing, and the latest updates.
How Claude AI works
Claude AI is a versatile tool that can answer questions, generate creative content such as stories and poems, translate languages, transcribe and analyze images, write code, summarize text, and engage people in natural, interactive conversations. It is available on desktop via web browser and apps for iOS and Android.
Claude uses large language models trained on a huge set of texts and codes to understand and generate human-like language.
Until recently, and unlike other chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity, one of Claude’s major shortcomings was that it could not access the Internet in real time or retrieve information from Web links. Instead, it generated answers based solely on the data it was trained on.
Each Claude model has a specific expiration date for knowledge. For example, Claude 4 Opus and 4 Sonet were trained on data until March 2025 and Claude 3.5 Haiku until July 2024. Anthropic has continuously updated Claude’s data to improve its capabilities.
As of March 2025, Claude finally had access to the Internet through the “Web Search” function. Initially available as a paid preview for users in the United States, it was then extended globally in May 2025 to all Claude plans and is now available on all models.
Knowledge cutoff is still important because Web search does not replace training data, but complements it for more up-to-date and relevant answers.
Claude AI: Key Features
Adaptability to conversation is one of its most interesting features. Claude artificial intelligence adapts its tone and depth based on the user’s questions. His ability to ask clarifying questions and maintain context during extended exchanges makes him useful for both casual and complex conversations.
The platform also offers APIs that can be integrated into various tools and workflows.
In November 2024, Anthropic introduced the Model Context Protocol in its Claude desktop app, allowing the chatbot to browse the Internet and manage files on the computer. This open-source protocol allows Claude to interact with various platforms and simplifies integration by eliminating the need for custom code.
Anthropic’s new Integrations feature allows Claude to connect seamlessly with external applications via the Model Context Protocol, providing a tool-rich context. He can automate tasks in Jira and Zapier or summarize pages in Confluence, all through conversational prompts.
Another feature, Advanced Search, enhances Claude’s search, which dives deep into internal and external data. It can take five to 45 minutes per query and produce in-depth, citation-based reports. The system now makes use of web searches, user documents and integrated applications such as Google Workspace, providing faster and more transparent answers that would previously have required hours of manual work.
Claude’s models
The initial version of Claude was released in March 2023, followed by Claude 2 in July 2023, which enables more extensive input processing. Then, in March 2024, Anthropic introduced Claude 3, which includes three models: Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus, each optimized for different performance needs.
Haiku is designed for simple, fast tasks where speed is critical. Sonnet balances speed and power for everyday use, while Opus handles advanced tasks such as math, coding, and logical reasoning. In October 2024, Haiku and Sonnet were upgraded to 3.5 models. In May 2025, both Opus and Sonnet models were upgraded to version 4.
With the release of the Claude 3.5 Haiku model, Anthropic claims that it “equals the performance of Claude 3 Opus” and is still the fastest model. Anthropic also stated in the blog that Opus 4 is “the best coding model in the world” and the smartest. Sonnet 4 offers balanced performance, improved reasoning, and more accurate responses to your instructions.
In October 2024, Anthropic’s improved version of Claude 3.5 introduced a beta function called computer use. Claude can perform operations such as moving the cursor, clicking buttons, and typing text, effectively mimicking human-computer interactions.
Claude currently supports PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT, RTF, EPUB, JSON, and XLSX. However, it has limits for files uploaded in chat, such as 30 MB per file, up to 20 files per chat, and visual parsing for PDFs under 100 pages. For detailed limits, see Anthropic’s support page.
Claude currently supports PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT, RTF, EPUB, JSON, and XLSX. However, it has limits for files uploaded in chat, such as 30 MB per file, up to 20 files per chat, and visual parsing for PDFs under 100 pages. For detailed limits, see Anthropic’s support page.
Claude’s approach to constitutional AI
Claude’s distinguishing feature from other generative AI models is his focus on “ethical” alignment and safe interactions.
On November 11, 2024, Dario Amodei joined Lex Fridman for a two-and-a-half-hour podcast to discuss AI. During the conversation, Amodei stated, “It is incredibly unproductive to try to argue with someone else’s vision.” He then founded his company to demonstrate that responsible AI implementation can be both ethical and profitable.
The “constitutional AI” framework aligns Claude’s behavior with human values. This approach uses a predefined set of principles, or “constitution,” to guide AI responses, reducing the risk of harmful or biased outcomes while ensuring that its responses remain useful and consistent. The constitution includes guidelines drawn from documents such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
