Earlier this summer, the AI startup Anthropic, based in San Francisco, introduced a groundbreaking feature called “Artifacts” within its Claude family of large language models (LLMs) and chatbots. This new feature distinguishes Anthropic as a significant competitor to OpenAI by enabling users to interact with code snippets and even full programs directly through the chat interface. The Artifacts feature allows users to create a variety of outputs, such as interactive visualizations, charts, or even simple playable games, which can be run alongside the chatbot within the user’s browser.
VentureBeat editorial director Michael Nuñez praised this innovative addition, calling it “this year’s most important AI feature.” The popularity of the feature is evident, with Anthropic reporting that users have already generated tens of millions of Artifacts since its introduction. Initially, enabling Claude Artifacts required users to manually activate the feature by navigating to the settings in the chatbot’s interface. However, Anthropic has now made Artifacts generally available across all its plans—Free, Pro, and Team—along with the Claude mobile apps for iOS and Android. This update significantly simplifies the process of creating and interacting with interactive code, especially for users on the go.
Alex Albert, Anthropic’s Head of Developer Relations, shared his enthusiasm on the social media platform X, revealing that he spent a morning replicating simple games using Claude. Albert noted that this marks the beginning of an era where mobile apps could be created in real-time by LLMs.
The updated feature availability allows users on Free and Pro plans to not only create Artifacts but also publish and remix them within the broader Claude community. This capability fosters a dynamic exchange of ideas and resources, as users can build upon each other’s work. For users on the Team plan, Artifacts can be shared securely within Projects, facilitating collaboration and enhancing productivity by allowing teams to iterate on shared creations over the web.
Anthropic’s approach with Claude Artifacts emphasizes user experience over raw processing power, which contrasts with the direction taken by much of the AI development community. While other companies are focused on expanding model capabilities and enhancing processing power, Anthropic is redesigning AI interfaces to prioritize ease of use and creativity. This strategy can be likened to the approach Nintendo has taken in the gaming industry, where the company often introduces consoles with less processing power than competitors like Microsoft and Sony but gains popularity through innovative user interfaces.
Artifacts is envisioned as a versatile tool that can be utilized by teams across various industries to accelerate the creation of high-quality work products. The platform supports a diverse range of outputs, including code snippets, flowcharts, SVG graphics, websites, and interactive dashboards. For example, developers can now generate architecture diagrams directly from their codebases, while product managers can create interactive prototypes for rapid feature testing. Designers can quickly produce visualizations for prototyping, marketers can develop campaign dashboards rich with performance metrics, and sales teams can create visualizations of their pipelines and forecast insights more effectively.
As Artifacts becomes an integral part of the Claude experience, Anthropic expects to see a wide range of creative and practical applications emerge from its global user base. The introduction of this feature not only highlights Anthropic’s focus on enhancing user experience but also positions the company to drive innovation across various industries by enabling teams to collaborate more effectively and produce high-quality work products with greater efficiency.