Claude Personal Finance and ChatGPT Finances: How Their Privacy Rules Differ

Anthropic has introduced a Personal Finance feature for Claude, setting it up as a direct competitor to the Finances tool OpenAI added to ChatGPT in May, according to Engadget. The announcement comes as Anthropic prepares to go public at a valuation that could set a record. Neither product is built to give expert financial advice. Both aim to help people get a clearer picture of their money.

The two tools overlap on most basics. Each chatbot can answer broad questions about goals such as saving for a home, budgeting a family trip or building a savings plan. Each can also build dashboards that show monthly spending, investments and spending patterns.

Getting started works the same way on both services. Users must connect a bank account, and both companies rely on Plaid to handle those connections. That setup supports links to major institutions including Bank of America, Capital One and Chase. In each case the access is read-only, so the AI can view account information but cannot move or change anything.

What each tool can see is slightly different. Anthropic says Claude's feature has access to the bank name, account name, account type, the final four digits of the account number, balances, credit limits and as much as two years of transaction history. OpenAI says its Finances tool can view balances, transactions, investments and liabilities.

Privacy is where the split is sharpest. Anthropic says conversations held inside Claude's Personal Finance hub are kept out of model training by default. It also says Claude stops seeing data a user shared earlier once the bank account is unlinked. At OpenAI, chats tied to connected accounts follow whatever training preferences a user has set across ChatGPT. Data use is on unless a person goes into Data controls and switches off the setting that lets their activity improve the model. OpenAI says synced account data is removed from its systems within 30 days of disconnecting.

Anthropic is also drawing a line on commerce. It says the feature carries no advertising or sponsored suggestions and does not push financial products from the company itself. OpenAI has been testing ads on its lower-priced tiers since January. OpenAI plans to expand its tool through a partnership with Intuit, covering areas such as card applications and tax questions.