Anthropic has expanded its AI assistant Claude’s capabilities, making advanced features available to all users without a subscription, bolstering its competitive edge against ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
The update enables free users to generate various file types, including PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs, and Word documents directly from conversations. For instance, requesting a budget plan from Claude results in a usable spreadsheet complete with built-in formulas.
Claude’s new features also include connectors that integrate with popular apps such as Google Drive, Gmail, GitHub, Canva, and Figma. Once connected, the assistant can automatically pull context from these services, eliminating the need for manual data transfer between platforms.
Additionally, custom skills allow users to define reusable instructions for repetitive tasks, enabling them to teach Claude to perform tasks like drafting emails in a specific style, formatting reports according to particular guidelines, or following workflow preferences across sessions.
Anthropic has also extended conversation length limits for free users and enhanced voice and image search features. The company announced these changes on February 11 through its official channels.
This development comes in response to OpenAI’s recent introduction of ads to its free and lower-cost ChatGPT plans. Anthropic has highlighted Claude’s ad-free approach through high-profile advertisements, emphasizing the difference in strategy between the two companies.
