Claude from Anthropic Charms After Breakup with the Pentagon

A Breakup That Boosts Claude's Popularity

Since Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, made the decision not to collaborate with the Pentagon on mass surveillance projects or the development of autonomous weapons, Claude, their AI model, has seen a significant increase in its daily active users. This bold decision has positioned Anthropic as an ethical player in the field of artificial intelligence, attracting many consumers concerned about these issues. However, this stance has also led to Claude being viewed as a potential risk in the supply chain.

Notable Growth in Downloads

Data provided by Appfigures indicates that Claude's mobile app recorded 149,000 daily downloads in the United States, surpassing ChatGPT, which had 124,000. These figures, dated March 2, illustrate a trend where Claude is gaining popularity against its direct competitor. Downloads are a key indicator of new users' interest in the app, and this momentum appears to be strengthening.

Significant Increase in Active Users

According to Similarweb, Claude had 11.3 million daily active users on March 2, marking a 183% increase from the beginning of the year when this figure was 4 million. At the beginning of February, Claude had around 5 million daily active users, showing continuous growth. This rapid increase outpaces competitors like Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot, although ChatGPT remains far ahead with 250.5 million daily active users. The rise in Claude's usage began later in the month, coinciding with news of Anthropic's tense negotiations with the Pentagon, which likely contributed to this surge.

Expanding Web Traffic

Claude's web traffic also experienced a notable increase, with a 43% month-over-month rise in February and a 297.7% increase year-over-year. This growth may partially come at the expense of ChatGPT, whose traffic decreased by 6.5% during the same period. Other players like Gemini recorded more modest growth, with a slight increase of 2.1%, indicating that Claude is capturing increasing attention.

Success on the App Store

Anthropic announced that Claude has become the number one app on the U.S. App Store, as well as in 15 other countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, and Switzerland. With over one million sign-ups per day, Claude continues to break its own sign-up records in all the countries where it is available, demonstrating its global appeal.

Market Reactions

Despite these successes, uninstalls of ChatGPT have increased, which could indicate a shift in user preference. Anthropic, while not commenting on third-party data, confirmed that Claude's daily active users have tripled since the beginning of 2026, and the number of paying subscribers has doubled. This momentum shows that Anthropic's strategy, focused on ethics and transparency, resonates positively with users.