Claude tops App Store as Pentagon deal reshapes AI rivalry
Users around the world dropping ChatGPT after OpenAI signs deal with US ‘Department of War’
Anthropic's chatbot Claude has climbed to the top of Apple's US App Store rankings for productivity apps, overtaking ChatGPT, amid a growing backlash over OpenAI's new agreement with the US Department of War.
Chief executive Sam Altman announced the agreement in a post on X on Friday night, stating that OpenAI's AI models would be deployed within the department's classified network.
Altman said the deal reflected two of the company's core safety principles: prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and the requirement for human responsibility in the use of force, including autonomous weapon systems.
By Saturday evening, Anthropic's Claude had risen to number one among the most downloaded productivity apps on Apple's US App Store, according to app tracking data.
Screenshots shared widely on social media appeared to show users cancelling ChatGPT subscriptions and signing up for Claude's $20-a-month Pro plan.
Pop musician Katy Perry wrote on X that she was "done", posting an image of Claude's pricing page with a heart drawn around the subscription tier.
Another user, Adam Lyttle, shared confirmation emails indicating he had cancelled ChatGPT and switched to Anthropic.
On Reddit's ChatGPT forum, dozens of users said they had deleted their accounts, with some urging others to follow suit under the slogan "Cancel ChatGPT".
Critics accused OpenAI of "selling their soul" by agreeing to military use of its models, while others said the move "crossed the line".
OpenAI's assurances
In a detailed description of the contract published on Saturday, OpenAI said its systems would not be used to "independently direct autonomous weapons" where law or policy requires human control.
It added that its AI would not be used for "unconstrained monitoring of US persons' private information".
"The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement," Altman wrote.
The Department of War has not commented publicly on the specifics of the deal, but the agreement marks a significant expansion of OpenAI's presence in Washington.
According to Axios, the military already uses AI tools including X's Grok, Google's Gemini and ChatGPT for unclassified tasks, and has been negotiating to bring some systems into classified environments.
Anthropic, the maker of Claude, has taken a more confrontational stance.
The company has publicly opposed the use of AI for domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weaponry.
After Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said he would designate Anthropic a "supply chain risk to national security", the firm said it would challenge any such designation in court.
President Donald Trump subsequently ordered federal agencies to phase out Anthropic's technology, effectively sidelining it from government contracts.
Employees at OpenAI and Google support Anthropic's stand
The Pentagon deal has not divided users alone. More than 300 employees at Google and over 60 at OpenAI have signed an open letter urging their leaders to support Anthropic's red lines against mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
"They're trying to divide each company with fear that the other will give in," the letter states.
"That strategy only works if none of us know where the others stand."
The signatories urged company leaders to set aside rivalries and present a united front in opposing what they characterised as the Department of War's current demands.
Jeff Dean, chief scientist at Google DeepMind, said in a post on X that mass surveillance breaches the Fourth Amendment and risks deterring free expression, warning that such systems are vulnerable to abuse.
He did not comment directly on Google's negotiations with the military.