Artificial intelligence is becoming more independent and you can now use Claude to perform tasks on your behalf in a new research preview available for select subscription plans. You can tell Claude to do things for you, like send a file from your computer to your phone -- without any setup. 

Anthropic's announcement comes after the viral sensation that is OpenClaw opened the floodgates, paving the way for more agentic AI tools that act more independently. The announcement for computer use in Claude came shortly after Nvidia launched its own reference stack for OpenClaw, NemoClaw, which adds more security measures. 

How does computer use for Claude work?

Anthropic says that Claude will look for the right tools to complete the task at hand via connectors with apps such as Google Calendar or Slack. If the tool or connector isn't available, Claude can manually perform the task by typing or moving the cursor, as if it were using the keyboard and mouse. It can use programs including your web browser, dev tools and open files, too.

When it's performing these tasks, it can use a computer as you normally would (think scrolling and clicking around). The only difference is that Claude will always ask for permission beforehand. You can stop Claude from performing a task at any time.

Giving your chatbot the keys to your computer can be convenient for certain tasks, but it can leave your computer vulnerable to attacks. Experts told us one major worry with agentic AI is that it can take major, sometimes dramatic actions quickly -- and with little warning. Claws can also be hijacked by malicious actors, who can use your personal data and systems in ways you don't want. 

Anthropic says it implemented safeguards to minimize risks, such as prompt injections. The system will automatically scan for this and more vulnerabilities as they're implemented.  

Despite some of its efforts to keep Claude's computer use safe, Anthropic also provides a warning to users. The feature is new and may contain errors, and the company suggests not using apps that handle sensitive data --  so much so that some of these apps are disabled by default.

The research preview is available now for Claude Pro and Claude Max subscribers and available for both MacOS and Windows.

Anthropic says the new computer-use feature works well with Dispatch, which allows you to assign tasks to Claude using your phone. Such tasks include checking your email every morning or opening up a Claude Cowork or Claude Code session. 

The combination of computer use for Claude and Dispatch enables you to do even more while you're not even around. Anthropic says the feature combo can create a morning briefing or run tests, for example. 

Both features are new, so some complex tasks might not work the first time. Anthropic said it's releasing this research preview to gain early insight on where it needs the most attention to become an even more powerful tool.