Goldman Sachs is pulling Claude Code from its bankers and traders
Bloomberg reported on November 2 that Goldman Sachs has cut most of its traders and bankers off from advanced AI coding tools, including Anthropic's Claude Code and Microsoft's GitHub. According to thestateofai.com, internal guidance updated in October restricts both products to the bank's engineers. The bank had let bankers use the tools for months before a review of productivity and risk concerns led to the change. Quantitative staff known as strats are exempt, since they blend trading, research and coding in one role.
Roughly 12,000 engineers keep access. Goldman spokesperson Nick Carcaterra said the bank weighed a range of factors, including productivity and risk management, and that the experimentation phase is over. He said the tools now go to people 'best suited to leverage them for the long term.' Some traders were frustrated. They had used the tools to track client flows, simulate shifts in market positions and draft text and visuals. The intended workflow had traders prototype and engineers finish for production.
Thestateofai.com also reports that Goldman removed Claude from its internal AI platform for bankers in Hong Kong in April, and that the new restriction targets third-party agents that can write and run code on their own. JPMorgan removed Claude from its Hong Kong approved list in June. In July, CIO Marco Argenti had publicly praised 'vibe coding' by non-technical staff.
Why it matters
For companies selling coding agents into banks, this is a seat-scope problem. A buyer can approve a tool for engineers while removing it from the front office, which shrinks the user base that a 'developer tool for everyone' pitch depends on. Products sold to regulated firms will need role-based access, audit logs and controls that show which staff can run agents against live data. Founders should assume an internal policy may narrow usage after a successful pilot.
For investors, the timing is notable. Goldman is the lead left underwriter on Anthropic's proposed Nasdaq listing, which was filed in late October under the ticker ANT. Anyone pricing enterprise AI revenue will want to know how much usage sits with regulated customers that can switch features off on short notice. Goldman's own in-house assistant draws on models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet, so the bank is building for model choice rather than a single vendor.
Key points
- 1Bloomberg reported the restriction on November 2, 2026, citing internal guidance dated October.
- 2Claude Code and GitHub's coding tools are limited to roughly 12,000 Goldman Sachs engineers.
- 3Quantitative staff called strats, who blend trading, research and coding, keep access to the tools.
- 4Goldman removed Claude from its internal AI platform for Hong Kong bankers in April.
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