Claude AI maker Anthropic partners with UK FCA for second Supercharged Sandbox cohort
The UK Financial Conduct Authority welcomes Anthropic as a partner for its latest Supercharged Sandbox cohort, where participating firms will utilize Claude AI models to explore artificial intelligence solutions in the financial sector.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) second Supercharged Sandbox cohort will feature Anthropic as a key partner, with the AI company offering its Claude AI models to participating financial firms as they explore artificial intelligence applications within a regulated testing framework.
Companies taking part in the program will gain access to Claude, which includes Claude Code and Claude Cowork, enabling them to build applications across multiple use cases such as agent-led payments, fraud detection systems, compliance automation solutions, and AI governance frameworks. The second cohort comprises 21 organizations, including notable names like Scottish Widows, Money Advice Trust and TrueLayer.
On Wednesday, the FCA announced it had received 199 applications for this latest cohort, representing a 51% increase from the inaugural round, signaling heightened interest in regulated testing environments where financial institutions can conduct AI system experiments.
The initiative extends the FCA's existing partnerships with NVIDIA and NayaOne, both of which supply participants with essential computing infrastructure and development tools. Concurrent with the second cohort's launch, the regulator unveiled a 10-week Agentic Academy developed in collaboration with the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship to assist firms in developing and deploying AI agents within financial services.
The Supercharged Sandbox targets firms currently in the discovery and experimentation phase of their AI development journey, whereas the FCA's distinct AI Live Testing program caters to firms that have reached readiness to implement AI in live markets.