Anthropic to require age verification via Persona
Anthropic announced it will begin requiring identity verification for some Claude users through a third-party service called Persona, starting with an age check. The process involves submitting a government-issued ID and a selfie. Anthropic stated the move aims to improve safety and comply with regulations.
Background
Anthropic, the maker of the AI assistant Claude, announced that users will need to verify their identity via Persona, a third-party identity verification service. This is likely driven by increasing regulatory pressure around AI safety and age-gating, especially in jurisdictions like the EU and parts of the US that are considering or enacting laws to restrict minors' access to AI systems. Persona collects government ID or other personal documents to confirm the user's age and identity. For Claude users, this means a significant privacy trade-off: to continue using the product, they must submit sensitive identification to a third party. This move mirrors similar verification requirements being adopted by other AI companies (e.g., OpenAI, Meta) and signals a broader industry shift away from anonymous or lightly-regulated AI access.