Anthropic’s chatbot Claude appears to have gained from the public attention surrounding the company’s difficult negotiations with the Pentagon. Claude has risen to the top of the free app rankings in Apple’s US App Store. On Saturday evening, it overtook OpenAI’s ChatGPT to claim the number one spot, a position it still held on Sunday morning.
According to data from SensorTower, Claude was just outside the top 100 at the end of January and spent most of February somewhere in the top 20. Its climb accelerated rapidly in recent days, moving from sixth on Wednesday to fourth on Thursday, and then first on Saturday.
A company spokesperson stated that daily signups have broken all-time records every day this week. Free users have increased more than 60 percent since January, and paid subscribers have more than doubled this year.
These developments follow Anthropic’s attempt to negotiate safeguards to prevent the Department of Defense from using its AI models for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. In response, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop using all Anthropic products, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he is designating the company a supply-chain threat.
Subsequently, OpenAI announced its own agreement with the Pentagon. CEO Sam Altman claimed this agreement includes safeguards related to domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons.
This post was first published on February 28, 2026. It has been updated to reflect Anthropic reaching the number one position and to include growth numbers from the company.