Anthropic merges Claude chat and Cowork, and adds a feature for making presentations and documents, rolling out to Pro and Max plans first (Ivan Mehta/TechCrunch)

Anthropic, the AI company behind the Claude chatbot, is merging its two Claude offerings, Claude Cowork and chat, into a single, all-encompassing Claude platform. This new Claude will be known simply as Claude, and it will have the ability to handle a wide range of tasks, from coding to design.

The change will roll out over the coming weeks, starting with Pro and Max plans. Artifacts, another Claude feature, will also be integrated into the new Claude platform. Claude Docs, a new addition to the suite, will be a key component of the merged Claude, helping Anthropic compete more directly with Google's AI-first suite.

Claude Docs will allow users to generate slides, which can be presented directly within Claude or downloaded as PowerPoint or PDF files. These features are currently in beta for paid plans. Anthropic launched Claude Cowork in January as a separate tool focused on non-coding tasks, but it became clear that users needed a more powerful, agentic Claude that could handle a broader range of tasks.

Anthropic stated that the merge was driven by user demand for more versatile Claude capabilities. "We built Cowork as a separate place for bigger work, and Design for visual work. People used both, and told us the frustrating part was deciding where a task belonged," Anthropic explained. "Claude can now figure out what a task needs, so what Cowork and Design can do is available from any conversation, with the context, skills, and connectors you already have."

The merge aims to simplify the user experience by consolidating all Claude features into one interface. Users will be able to access Claude Design, Slides, and Docs through a single starting point, allowing for seamless transitions between different types of tasks. Anthropic noted that users can still use Claude Design as a standalone tool if they prefer.

For those who primarily use Claude chat, Anthropic assured that their experience should remain unchanged. However, the overall goal is to provide a more intuitive, all-in-one platform for users to work with Claude and generate their projects and documents.