- Claude has hit number one on the US Apple App Store chart
- It's linked to anger over ChatGPT's deal with the US military
- Claude continues to be used inside various US government agencies
It seems that AI chatbot Claude is gaining a substantial number of new users in the wake of developer Anthropic's decision to step away from a deal with the US military: the app has now hit number one in Apple's App Store chart in the US.
As reported by TechCrunch and others, Claude's popularity boost is linked to Anthropic's announcement late last week that it had failed to reach an agreement to supply AI services to the US Department of War (DoW) — citing a lack of safeguards relating to mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons as the main stumbling block.
ChatGPT developer OpenAI apparently had fewer qualms about the DoW deal, and jumped in to replace Anthropic. According to OpenAI, it was given assurances by US authorities that "safety principles" around mass surveillance and autonomous weapons would be adhered to going forward.
However, ChatGPT's users aren't convinced. The ChatGPT Reddit is packed with reports of users quitting the AI app over the "dark direction" that OpenAI is heading in – and it appears that Claude is the alternative that many are switching too.
Still in use
Although Anthropic has refused to ink a new deal with the DoW, Claude is used extensively across US government departments — something President Donald Trump wants to see changed in the light of the recent disagreements over safety and security.
In a social media post (via The Guardian), Trump called Anthropic "a Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about". He went on to request that all government agencies stop using Claude with immediate effect — although such a swift turnaround doesn't appear to be feasible.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the US military operation we've seen in Iran over the last few days has been assisted by Anthropic's AI. Claude is apparently still being used extensively by the White House and its security services, including US Central Command in the Middle East.
A full switch to ChatGPT is going to take months, according to the WSJ. In the meantime, plenty of ordinary consumers who aren't working for the US government are moving in the opposite direction when it comes to AI tools.
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