Goldman Sachs restricts Claude Code and GitHub Copilot access to about 12,000 engineers

According to Bloomberg News, Goldman Sachs updated its internal guidance in October to restrict Anthropic's Claude Code and Microsoft's GitHub to the bank's engineers. Before the update, traders and investment banking staff at the firm used these tools to track client flows and build market models. Once the guidance took effect, traders and bankers lost access, and most of them can no longer use AI coding tools at work. The report says the guidance was revised after an internal review that examined productivity and risk concerns. The same report also notes that Goldman Sachs had already barred its Hong Kong investment bankers from using Claude as early as April.

Some traders expressed dissatisfaction with the restrictions, the report says. A Goldman Sachs spokesperson responded that the bank gives employees access to specific AI tools so that the firm can determine the best use cases. The report also points out that Goldman Sachs is one of the lead underwriters for Anthropic's IPO. No information has surfaced about the bank reversing the decision, so the limits set by the October guidance appear to remain in place.