Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental and sustainability impact, including energy demands, of the Anthropic Claude AI model used for the Gov.uk chat service.

The Government Digital Service recognises the importance of environmental considerations in the use of AI and we are committed to using this technology responsibly. We are working in line with the AI Playbook for the UK Government, which highlights the importance of understanding and managing the environmental impact of AI systems.

Environmental considerations have been reviewed under the Environmental Principles Policy Statement (EPPS), with negligible anticipated impact. EPPS principles have been considered, including resource efficiency and sustainability of digital infrastructure.

Model selection decisions are based on performance, security, data protection, cost, and alignment with government standards. Where possible, we use smaller and more efficient models to improve sustainability, including in our use of the Claude models within GOV.UK Chat.