On October 23, 2026, Sveriges Radio's Ekot reported that Sweden's Government Offices, Regeringskansliet, would block ChatGPT and Claude on staff work computers from Monday, October 26. The German outlet Dr. Web followed up the same day with further detail from the Ekot report and the Government Offices' press office. This digest could not retrieve the Sveriges Radio page directly, so the details below are as Dr. Web reports them.
What is blocked and what is not
The block cuts the direct path from the government network to OpenAI's and Anthropic's services. It does not cut off the models. According to the press office, some staff will continue to use ChatGPT and Claude through an AI platform that the Government Offices built itself. Microsoft Copilot stays allowed. The Government Offices reviewed it and tightened its safeguards, but the press office would not describe the changes.
Digitalisation director Mikael Wettercrantz explained the block on the internal intranet. Dr. Web paraphrases him as saying that staff using AI services without a contract risk consequences for information security. He declined an interview with Sveriges Radio.
A wider pattern in Swedish agencies
Dr. Web reports that the Tax Agency, Skatteverket, and the National Board of Institutional Care already block similar services, and that the Enforcement Authority, Kronofogden, has not yet decided. An internal audit at the Transport Administration, Trafikverket, found widespread and risky use of about ten unapproved AI services this year.
Copilot's place on the allowed list carries its own tension. Dr. Web notes that Swedish agencies have argued for months over Microsoft's cloud. A legal opinion for Kronofogden concluded that keeping email and documents on Microsoft infrastructure would breach Swedish secrecy law. Skatteverket has paused further rollout of US cloud services while the legal position is reviewed.
What remains uncertain. The Government Offices has not said publicly why these two services were singled out. It has not described the Copilot settings, the scope of the in-house platform, or which staff can use it. The rule covers service computers. Reports do not say whether personal phones are affected.
Analysis: Dr. Web frames the decision as one about contracts rather than models, which explains how the same two models can be blocked and allowed at once. The more useful lesson for other public bodies and regulated companies is about routes, not vendors. A block on its own pushes staff to phones and home laptops, where nobody sees what is pasted. It works only if a sanctioned route reaches the same capability. Sweden's in-house platform is the part worth copying. One gateway for several models, with logging and data-handling terms the organisation controls, is easier to defend than a list of banned domains. It also leaves the choice of model open when contracts or legal opinions change.
Sources and evidence
Sweden's Government Offices blocked direct access to ChatGPT and Claude on work computers from October 26, citing information-security risk from services used without a contract; some staff keep both models through an in-house platform and Copilot stays allowed, even as Kronofogden's legal opinion questions Microsoft's cloud. A block works only alongside a sanctioned gateway that reaches the same models.