Anthropic launched Claude 2, its first model widely available to the public through a beta at claude.ai and the API. Its headline feature was a 100,000-token context window, which could swallow entire books or long documents in a single prompt.

Claude 2 was the first model widely seen as a genuine ChatGPT rival, with Anthropic claiming improvements in coding, math, and reasoning over its predecessor. The public beta expanded access beyond the UK and US rollout that followed.

The release set the pattern for Anthropic's strategy: longer context and stronger reasoning pitched as the responsible alternative to OpenAI's faster-moving lineup.