Following OpenAI's AI agreement with the Pentagon, ChatGPT uninstalls in the US increased by 295%
Uninstalls of ChatGPT in the United States surged 295% day over day on Saturday, February 28, following news of OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon to deploy its advanced AI models in classified environments.
The spike was significantly higher than the app’s typical 9% day-over-day uninstall rate over the past 30 days, according to TechCrunch, citing data from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
The partnership also affected new downloads. ChatGPT’s US downloads fell 13% day over day on Saturday after the announcement and dropped another 5% on Sunday. In contrast, downloads had risen 14% on Friday, before the deal was made public.
The development comes shortly after OpenAI announced that ChatGPT had crossed 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paying subscribers, marking one of the fastest adoption rates in consumer technology.
Meanwhile, rival AI firm Anthropic saw a sharp rise in interest. US downloads of its Claude app jumped 37% on Friday, February 27, and surged 51% on Saturday after the company declined to allow unconditional military use of Claude by the US Department of War.
According to Sensor Tower data, consumers appeared to respond positively to Anthropic’s stance. The company had rejected the Pentagon’s terms over concerns that its AI could be used for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, which it argues are not yet safe.
As a result, Claude climbed to the number one position among free apps on the US Apple App Store on Saturday evening, overtaking ChatGPT, and remained there as of Monday.
Data from Appfigures, cited by TechCrunch, showed that Claude also became the top free iPhone app in six countries outside the US: Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland.
App reviews reflected the shift in consumer sentiment. ChatGPT’s one-star reviews jumped 775% on Saturday and rose another 100% on Sunday, while five-star reviews fell 50%. Separately, Claude’s daily US downloads on Saturday surpassed ChatGPT for the first time, rising 88% day over day.
