ChatGPT Uninstalls Surge 295% After Pentagon Deal as Claude Climbs App Charts

ChatGPT’s mobile app uninstallations in the US have jumped 295% day-on-day, after news broke of OpenAI’s partnership with the US Department of Defense (DoD), which has been rebranded under the Trump administration as the Department of War.

Data from Sensor Tower showed the spike far exceeded ChatGPT’s typical day-on-day uninstall rate of around 9% over the past 30 days. At the same time, the app’s US downloads fell 13% on February 28 and dropped a further 5% the next day. The decline followed a 14% increase on February 27, before the defence deal was announced.

Meanwhile, downloads of Claude, developed by Anthropic, rose sharply. US downloads increased 37% day-on-day on Friday and 51% on Saturday after Anthropic confirmed it would not partner with the US defence department. The company said it could not agree to the proposed terms, citing concerns over potential surveillance of Americans and the use of AI in fully autonomous weapons—capabilities it argues are not yet safe.

The rapid shift in sentiment was also visible in app rankings. Claude climbed more than 20 positions within a week to claim the top spot on the Apple App Store in the US on Saturday, where it remained as of Monday, March 2.

Consumer reactions were reflected in reviews. One-star ratings for ChatGPT surged 775% on Saturday and rose a further 100% on Sunday, according to Sensor Tower, while five-star reviews fell by 50% over the same period.

Other analytics firms reported similar trends. Appfigures said Claude’s daily US downloads surpassed ChatGPT’s for the first time on Saturday, estimating an 88% day-on-day increase. Similarweb noted Claude’s US downloads over the past week were roughly 20x higher than in January, though it cautioned that factors beyond politics may also have contributed.