Swedish government blocks ChatGPT and Claude. Here’s why

The Swedish government has prohibited the use of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude on work computers due to security concerns regarding the handling of sensitive data. This decision emerged from a review conducted earlier this year at the Swedish Transport Administration, which uncovered "problematic" uses of these AI platforms in the context of government operations.

Officials expressed worry that inputting confidential information into these models without a protective agreement could result in the data being utilized and stored by the models for training purposes. Mikael Wettercrantz, the director of digitalisation at the Government Offices of Sweden, stated that the use of unregulated platforms, known as shadow IT, could pose a threat to information security.

Microsoft’s Copilot, which has undergone a security screening process and is covered by a security agreement with the Swedish government, is suggested as an alternative. Although government workers can still utilize AI to assist in their tasks, they must adhere to stricter security protocols and are limited to using ChatGPT and Claude through a special platform for AI assistants developed by Swedish authorities.

The restrictions on ChatGPT and Claude have also been implemented at the Swedish Tax Agency and the National Board of Institutional Care. The Swedish Enforcement Authority is currently evaluating the situation. The AI platforms are added to a list of tools not approved by the Swedish government due to data security concerns. Recently, the US announced a ban on all products and services from the Chinese AI company DeepSeek.