Anthropic’s Claude rises to No. 1 in the App Store following Pentagon dispute

Anthropic's AI chatbot, Claude, has surged to the top of the free app rankings in Apple's U.S. App Store, claiming the No. 1 spot over OpenAI's ChatGPT. This rise follows a public dispute where Anthropic attempted to negotiate safeguards with the Pentagon to prevent its AI models from being used for mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. In response, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic products, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth designated the company a supply-chain threat. Despite the controversy, Anthropic reported record daily sign-ups, a more than 60% increase in free users since January, and more than doubling its paid subscribers this year. Meanwhile, OpenAI announced its own agreement with the Pentagon, which CEO Sam Altman stated includes safeguards related to surveillance and autonomous weapons.

(Source：TechCrunch)