Anthropic has launched a new premium subscription tier for its AI chatbot Claude, named 'Max', according to a report by TechCrunch on November 9th (local time). This new offering, priced at $200 per month, directly targets OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro, which carries the same monthly fee.

Claude Max provides significantly higher usage limits and access to Anthropic's latest AI models compared to the existing $20 Claude Pro plan. The Max tier is available with two pricing options: a$100 per month plan offering 5 times the usage limit of Claude Pro, and a $200 per month plan providing 20 times the usage limit.

This strategic move by Anthropic is aimed at increasing its profitability, drawing parallels to OpenAI's success. OpenAI reportedly saw its annualized revenue increase to $300 million within two months of launching ChatGPT Pro, and Anthropic is anticipated to achieve similar financial performance with the introduction of Max.

Scott White, Anthropic's Product Lead, indicated that the company is open to releasing even more expensive subscription plans in the future and will continue product development based on user feedback. It is noted that, unlike OpenAI's ChatGPT Pro, Anthropic currently does not offer an unlimited usage plan for Claude.

In addition to the Max tier, Anthropic is also preparing 'Claude for Education', a dedicated offering for university customers. While Anthropic has not disclosed the current number of Claude subscribers, the company stated that demand has surged following the release of its new Claude 3.7 Sonnet model.