What’s the story
Anthropic has added a highly-anticipated memory function to its Claude chatbot.
The new feature allows the AI to remember and reference past conversations when prompted by the user, making it easier for users to continue projects or refer back to previous discussions without starting from scratch.
The company demonstrated this capability in a YouTube video, where Claude was able to summarize past chats after a user’s vacation.
Cross-platform functionality
How to enable memory in Claude
The memory feature works on web, desktop, and mobile versions of Claude. It can also keep different projects and workspaces separate for a more organized user experience.
The new capability was rolled out to users with Max, Team, and Enterprise subscriptions on Monday.
To enable it, users just have to go to “Settings” under their profile and toggle the feature under “Search and reference chats.”
Memory isn’t persistent yet
Unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Claude’s memory function isn’t persistent yet. This means it won’t automatically remember past chats unless specifically asked by the user.
Anthropic spokesperson Ryan Donegan clarified this distinction, saying that the AI isn’t building a user profile with its memory capabilities.
AI race heats up as memory functions get introduced
Anthropic and OpenAI have been competing fiercely in the AI race, each trying to outdo the other with new features and functionalities.
These include voice modes, larger context windows, and new subscription tiers.
The introduction of memory functions is another strategy by leading AI companies to attract and retain users on their chatbot services.