Kenya has signed a cooperation agreement with US artificial intelligence company Anthropic to expand collaboration on artificial intelligence, with the partnership focusing on skills development, research, AI safety and practical applications in sectors including education and healthcare.
The Joint Declaration was signed in New York on September 22, 2026, on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Dr Abraham Korir Sing’Oei, signed on behalf of the government, while Elizabeth Kelly, Anthropic’s Head of Beneficial Deployments, signed for the company.
The agreement establishes an umbrella framework under which Kenyan government institutions can work with Anthropic on specific programmes, pilot projects, research initiatives and capacity-building efforts. It does not, at this stage, announce a specific AI system or technology that will immediately be deployed across government.
The cooperation will cover AI skills and capacity building, research, responsible public-sector applications, AI safety and evaluation, as well as applications tailored to Kenya’s needs in education and health.
Kenya’s Special Envoy on Technology, Ambassador Philip Thigo, said the partnership is intended to strengthen local expertise and ensure AI technologies are developed with Kenyan institutions and adapted to the country’s priorities.
The discussions between Kenya and Anthropic have included potential applications involving education, healthcare, public-sector skills, learner outcomes and research based on African priorities. The next phase is expected to involve identifying specific institutions and programmes through which the cooperation can be implemented.
Data protection and sovereignty are also central to the framework. Future programmes involving government data are expected to operate under Kenyan law and applicable data-protection, cybersecurity and public-sector requirements. The agreement does not transfer Kenya’s authority over its public data to Anthropic.
The partnership comes as Kenya works to expand its domestic capacity in artificial intelligence under its National AI Strategy 2025–2030. The strategy identifies AI infrastructure, data and governance, and research, innovation and commercialisation among its key areas of focus.
For education, the cooperation could provide a basis for exploring AI-assisted learning and other applications tailored to Kenyan institutions. In healthcare, the parties are expected to examine practical applications while considering the country’s regulatory and data-protection requirements.
The public sector is another major area of focus, with the partnership expected to support AI skills among government officials and explore responsible applications of the technology in government services.
The agreement also places emphasis on AI safety and evaluation, reflecting the growing need for governments to assess how advanced AI systems perform before deploying them in sensitive areas.
For Anthropic, whose Claude family of AI models is used by consumers, businesses and developers, the agreement provides a framework for working with Kenyan institutions on locally relevant applications.
For Kenya, the immediate significance of the deal lies in creating a structure for collaboration rather than launching a particular AI product. The details of individual programmes, including their funding, participating institutions and timelines, are expected to be developed through subsequent agreements.
The partnership therefore marks the beginning of a broader collaboration, with its practical impact likely to depend on how quickly the framework translates into skills programmes, research projects and AI applications that can be tested and implemented within Kenya’s legal and institutional environment.
