According to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower, the number of uninstalls of the ChatGPT mobile app in the US jumped 295% in one day. This was in response to the news of OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of Defense, now called the Department of War.
According to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower, the number of uninstalls of the ChatGPT mobile app in the US jumped 295% in one day. This was in response to the news of OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of Defense, now called the Department of War.
Meanwhile, downloads of Anthropic's Claude in the US increased by 37% on February 27 and by 51% on February 28, TechCrunch writes .
This comes after the company announced it would not work with the U.S. Department of Defense. Anthropic said it was unable to agree on terms of the deal due to concerns that AI would be used to spy on Americans and in fully autonomous weapons, for which AI is not yet ready to be safely used.
The data suggests that a certain group of users appears to have supported Anthropic's position on this issue.
In addition, the news of the partnership with the Ministry of Defense negatively affected the growth of ChatGPT downloads: on Saturday, shortly after the announcement of the deal, the number of downloads in the US fell by 13% compared to the previous day. The drop continued on Sunday, amounting to another 5% per day. For comparison: before the announcement of the partnership, on Friday, the number of downloads of the application grew by 14% daily.
These rapid changes were also reflected in Claude's App Store rankings, as the app reached the number one spot in the US App Store on Saturday, where it remains as of Monday, March 2. That's a jump of more than 20 spots from about a week earlier (February 22, 2026).
Users are also sharing their thoughts on OpenAI's offering in the app's ratings, with 1-star reviews for ChatGPT increasing by 775% on Saturday and then increasing by 100% on Sunday, Sensor Tower reported. Five-star reviews fell by 50% over the same period.
Other third-party data providers confirm Sensor Tower's findings.
For example, Appfigures noted that on Saturday, Claude’s total daily downloads in the US surpassed ChatGPT’s for the first time. The company also saw a growth in Claude downloads, but it estimated that the growth was even higher: 88% in a single day as of Saturday.
Claude is also currently the #1 free iPhone app in six countries outside the US, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and Switzerland.
dev.ua previously reported on the large-scale conflict surrounding the use of artificial intelligence in the American defense sector .
