Anthropic's Claude Startups Perks Vanished Within a Day of Launch

On October 6 Anthropic expanded Claude Startups with $1,000 in API credits, a free year of Claude Team for five seats and up to $45,000 in partner discounts. Weak verification let fake startups and resellers flood in, and by October 8–9 approved founders saw their credits and free year disappear.

• Program offered $1,000 in API credits and a free year of Claude Team for 5 seats
• Partner discounts and credits reached up to $45,000
• Verification was effectively absent, triggering a wave of fake signups
• By October 9 the program page no longer listed the free year of Claude Team