Anthropic upgrades Claude’s memory to attract AI switchers

Source: The Verge

Memory Feature Now Available on Free Plan

Anthropic is making it easier to switch to its Claude AI from other chatbots with an update that brings Claude’s memory feature to users on the free plan, along with a new prompt and dedicated tool for importing data from other chatbots. This allows users who have been using rivals like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini to quickly copy the data their preferred AI has collected on them and bring it over to Anthropic’s chatbot, so they don’t have to “start over” teaching Claude the context and history their previous chatbot already knows.

New Import Tool for Switching from Other Chatbots

The option to import and export memories from Claude has been available since October, when Anthropic also rolled out the option for users to turn on Claude’s memory. Up until now, the memory feature was only available to users on paid Claude subscriptions, but now all Claude users can turn it on by going into Settings → Capabilities. This same menu houses the new memory‑importing tool, which guides users to copy a pre‑written prompt into their previous AI, then paste the output from that prompt back into Claude’s importing tool.

Claude’s Growing Popularity and Model Updates

Anthropic is introducing the upgraded memory‑importing tool as Claude is seeing a rise in popularity, driven by tools like Claude Code and Claude Cowork. Last month, Anthropic launched its new Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 models, which the company says are better at coding and completing complex tasks like working through a spreadsheet or filling out forms.

Anthropic’s Stance on Pentagon Requests

Anthropic has also been experiencing a spike in attention after pushing back against demands from the Pentagon to loosen the guardrails on its AI models. The company stated publicly that it drew “red lines” around mass surveillance and fully autonomous lethal weapons.