Anthropic’s Claude rises to No. 1 in the App Store following Pentagon dispute

Anthropic's AI assistant Claude has claimed the #1 spot in Apple's US App Store's free app rankings, overtaking OpenAI's ChatGPT, according to data from SensorTower. This dramatic ascent—from outside the top 100 in late January to the pinnacle by late February—coincides with a high-profile political dispute. The surge began after Anthropic's fraught negotiations with the Pentagon became public, where the company attempted to establish contractual safeguards preventing the Department of Defense from using its models for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. In response, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the company a supply-chain threat.

The controversy appears to have fueled a massive wave of consumer interest. An Anthropic spokesperson reported that daily signups broke all-time records every day last week, with free users increasing more than 60% since January and paid subscribers more than doubling in 2026. This public clash over AI ethics created a stark contrast with competitor OpenAI, which subsequently announced its own Pentagon agreement that CEO Sam Altman claimed included similar safeguards. The episode highlights a complex dynamic where taking a public stand on ethical AI use, even at significant institutional cost, can resonate powerfully with the consumer market and translate into substantial user growth, potentially reshaping competitive dynamics in the foundational model space.