On Saturday, February 28, uninstalls of ChatGPT’s mobile app in the U.S. surged by 295% day-over-day following news about OpenAI’s agreement with the Department of Defense, now labeled the Department of War under the Trump administration. Data from Sensor Tower shows this increase is significant compared to ChatGPT’s usual day-over-day uninstall rate of 9% over the last 30 days.
Meanwhile, downloads for Anthropic’s Claude spiked by 37% day-over-day on Friday, February 27, and 51% on Saturday, February 28, after Anthropic declared it would not collaborate with the U.S. defense department due to concerns that AI could be used for surveillance and autonomous weapons.
The data indicates some consumers preferred Anthropic’s stance. Additionally, ChatGPT’s U.S. download growth was negatively impacted by the DoD partnership news, dropping 13% day-over-day on Saturday, with further declines of 5% on Sunday. Before the announcement, downloads had grown 14% day-over-day on Friday.
Claude’s App Store ranking reflected this shift, reaching No. 1 in the U.S. App Store on Saturday, where it remains as of Monday, March 2, jumping over 20 ranks compared to a week prior on February 22, 2026.
Consumers have been voicing their views on OpenAI’s deal, with 1-star reviews for ChatGPT surging 775% on Saturday, and increasing 100% day-over-day on Sunday, accompanied by a 50% drop in 5-star reviews.
Supporting Sensor Tower’s findings, Appfigures reported that Claude’s total daily U.S. downloads on Saturday exceeded those of ChatGPT for the first time, estimating an even higher increase of 88% day-over-day on Saturday.
Claude is now the No. 1 free iPhone app in several countries, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, and the U.S.
Similarweb stated that Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were about 20 times higher than in January, although this may be due to factors beyond the political situation.