Anthropic’s Claude hits No. 1 in U.S. App Store amid Pentagon dispute

The Claude chatbot application, developed by Anthropic, has risen to the No. 1 spot in the free app rankings in Apple’s U.S. App Store, which serves as the platform provider’s digital distribution platform. On Saturday evening, Claude overtook OpenAI’s competitor product, ChatGPT, to claim the top position, which it maintained through Sunday morning. According to data provided by Sensor Tower, Claude was positioned just outside the top 100 at the end of January and spent most of February within the top 20. The app climbed through the rankings in the final days of the month, moving from sixth on Wednesday to fourth on Thursday, before securing the No. 1 spot on Saturday.

Anthropic reported that daily sign-ups broke all-time records every day during the week. The company’s user metrics show:

• Free users increased by more than 60% since the end of January.
• Paid subscribers more than doubled this year.

This consumer growth occurred alongside a public dispute between Anthropic and the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense. Anthropic had attempted to negotiate for safeguards that would prevent the Department of Defense from using its artificial intelligence models for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. Following these negotiations, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop using all Anthropic products. Additionally, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic a “supply-chain threat.”

In contrast, competitor OpenAI secured its own separate agreement with the Pentagon. According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, this agreement includes safeguards related to domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Why it matters

Anthropic’s consumer growth highlights a disconnect between government regulatory pressure and public adoption, as the company navigates a dispute with the Pentagon. The consumer surge suggests that official designations of tech companies as national security risks do not necessarily deter public interest or user acquisition.