On Saturday, February 28, uninstalls of the ChatGPT mobile app in the United States surged 295% day-over-day. This sharp increase followed news of OpenAI’s new partnership with the Department of Defense, which has been rebranded under the Trump administration as the Department of War. According to market intelligence provider Sensor Tower, this jump is a significant departure from ChatGPT’s typical day-over-day uninstall rate of 9% over the previous 30 days.
Meanwhile, downloads for OpenAI’s competitor, Anthropic’s Claude app, saw a notable rise. U.S. downloads increased by 37% day-over-day on Friday, February 27, and by 51% on Saturday, February 28. This growth came after Anthropic announced it would not partner with the U.S. defense department. The company stated it could not agree to terms due to concerns about AI being used to surveil Americans or in fully autonomous weaponry, a use it believes AI is not yet ready to handle safely. Market data suggests a segment of consumers favored Anthropic’s position.
ChatGPT’s download growth was also negatively impacted. Its U.S. downloads dropped 13% day-over-day on Saturday after the partnership news became public. Downloads continued to fall on Sunday, declining by 5% day-over-day. Prior to the announcement, the app’s downloads had actually grown 14% day-over-day on Friday.
These rapid shifts were reflected in Claude’s App Store ranking. The app reached the number one position on the U.S. App Store on Saturday and remained there as of Monday, March 2. This represents a jump of over 20 ranks compared to its position roughly a week earlier on February 22, 2026.
Consumer sentiment was also visible in app reviews. Sensor Tower reported that 1-star reviews for ChatGPT surged 775% on Saturday, then grew another 100% day-over-day on Sunday. During the same period, 5-star reviews declined by 50%.
Other data providers support these findings. Appfigures noted that Claude’s total daily U.S. downloads surpassed those of ChatGPT for the first time on Saturday. Its estimates showed Claude’s U.S. downloads increasing by 88% day-over-day that day. Appfigures also reported that Claude is now the number one free iPhone app in several countries, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, and the United States.
A third market intelligence provider, Similarweb, stated that Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were approximately 20 times higher than they were in January. However, it cautioned that this increase could be attributed to reasons beyond the current political issues.