Exclusive: Maryland taps AI for housing and government benefits
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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) is partnering with AI companies Anthropic and Percepta to try to improve access to government benefits and housing, according to an announcement shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: Applying for government assistance or housing permits, as well as processing those services, can be difficult and time-consuming.
- Maryland officials are hoping AI will help.
- "Leveraging AI will accelerate our push to fight poverty, turn renters into homeowners, and ensure every Marylander can access essential services like nutrition and financial support, quickly and effectively," Moore said in a statement.
How it works: Maryland will deploy Anthropic's Claude model to power chatbots across agencies to help residents apply for food aid, Medicaid and temporary cash assistance, as well as to identify additional programs that residents might qualify for.
- Caseworkers will use Claude to verify people's eligibility and as a resource for policy guidance in more complicated cases, per the announcement.
- Percepta's technical team will set up its software platform to help Maryland streamline permitting and licensing for housing development.
- The Rockefeller Foundation provided funding support for the partnership.
Context: Maryland has what it calls a "responsible AI policy" for state agencies to provide oversight for how AI systems are used.
Between the lines: Moore, who is running for reelection next year amid presidential speculation, is tapping into AI to advance his party's focus on affordability, which resulted in big wins this year.
Catch up quick: Maryland was already using AI to deploy food assistance programs for kids, and these new tools build on that approach.
What's next: Anthropic and Moore's "innovation team" are working on another data analysis tool to identify where people in local communities are in need of food, child care and other services.
- Maryland is also exploring an AI upskilling pilot with Anthropic for early career professionals.
