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Anthropic unifies Claude chat and Cowork for Enterprise, default-on Nov. 16

For the CISO of a bank running Claude Enterprise

Anthropic announced on Oct. 23 that it has unified Claude chat and Cowork on web, desktop and mobile for Enterprise plan customers, PYMNTS reported.1

Anthropic said on the Claude support page that every conversation starts as a chat, and when a task needs to run code or work with files, Claude continues it in an isolated cloud sandbox managed by Anthropic, then returns the finished work for review.1

The setting appears in administration settings as Chat and Cowork unified; it is off by default in existing organizations and is due to turn on by default on Nov. 16, according to Anthropic's announcement as reported by PYMNTS.1

Anthropic's support article says Cowork sessions run in an isolated, temporary environment on Anthropic's servers that is removed when the session ends, and that work Claude does there, including local files opened through the desktop app, is processed on Anthropic's servers rather than staying on the user's computer.2

The same article says isolation limits where Claude's code runs but does not limit what Claude reads or does, and that Cowork activity from mobile and web is captured in the Compliance API, while Team and Enterprise owners can stream Cowork events to SIEM and observability tools through OpenTelemetry.2

Anthropic's release notes say the unified experience began rolling out to Pro and Max plans on Sept. 16, and that chats, Cowork tasks, projects, connectors and skills carry over.3

Why it matters

Enterprise customers that approved Claude for chat may not have reviewed code execution and file handling on Anthropic's servers. Because the setting turns on by default Nov. 16, security, compliance and vendor-risk teams that want a say need to review the data flows and logging before then, or the default decides for them.

What’s next

The Chat and Cowork unified setting is due to turn on by default in existing Enterprise organizations on Nov. 16.1

From the brief

Our take. On Nov. 16 a setting your bank never switched on becomes the default, and ordinary chats can move into Anthropic-run sandboxes that run code and handle files. Decide before then: opt out, or redo the vendor approvals.

Action. Third-party risk: Before Nov. 16, set the "Chat and Cowork unified" admin toggle or re-approve Anthropic for sandboxed code execution and file handling.

What our records say

Anthropic sells banks Claude seats and API access directly and through cloud marketplaces, and in 2026 added embedded engineering with Goldman Sachs and FIS, restricted Mythos cyber-defence access for a few large banks, and a services firm co-founded with Goldman Sachs.1 Goldman Sachs and JPMorganChase offer Claude to staff, BankUnited and Flagstar run Claude in internal AI platforms, and several large banks test the restricted Mythos model.1

  1. Claude: AI programme summary

From our records

Sources

  1. ReportPYMNTS | Anthropic Merges Claude Chat and Cowork for Enterprise Users PYMNTS
  2. Primary sourceUse Claude Cowork safely Anthropic
  3. Primary sourceRelease notes Anthropic