Sam Altman Trolls Anthropic Over Claude Code Removal as User Backlash Mounts Against Opus 4.7 and Pricing Changes
OpenAI CEO mocks rival after Anthropic's pricing changes and 'dumpster fire' Opus 4.7 complaints.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly mocked rival Anthropic with an 'ok boomer' tweet on April 22, 2026, capitalizing on mounting user frustration. The jab came after Anthropic began testing pricing changes that removed access to Claude Code—its specialized coding assistant—from the Pro subscription tier for a subset of new sign-ups. This strategic move by OpenAI highlights the intensifying competition for developer tools, with Altman positioning Codex as the superior alternative.
User backlash is not limited to pricing. Anthropic's latest flagship model, Opus 4.7, is facing severe criticism, with many in the tech community labeling it a 'dumpster fire.' Reported issues include intrusive malware scanning within user prompts and unexpectedly high token consumption, degrading the developer experience. This discontent creates a significant opening for OpenAI, whose Codex product recently surpassed 4 million weekly active users and is now aggressively courting the very developers alienated by Anthropic's changes.
- Sam Altman tweeted 'ok boomer' at Anthropic after it removed Claude Code from Pro plans for new users.
- Anthropic's Opus 4.7 model faces user revolt over 'dumpster fire' performance, malware scanning, and high token costs.
- OpenAI's Codex, with 4M weekly users, is directly targeting developers displaced by Anthropic's pricing and model issues.
Why It Matters
Pricing and model stability are critical for developers; this shift could accelerate a major migration in the AI coding assistant market.