App uninstalls (in the USA) of ChatGPT’s mobile app jumped 295% day-over-day on Saturday, February 28, as consumers responded to the news of OpenAI’s deal with the Department of Defense. That agency has been rebranded under the Trump administration as the Department of War. This data comes from market intelligence provider Sensor Tower and represents a sizable increase compared with ChatGPT’s typical day-over-day uninstall rate of 9%, as measured over the past 30 days. Meanwhile, U.S. downloads for OpenAI competitor Anthropic’s Claude jumped up by 37% day-over-day on Friday, February 27. The figure reached 51% as of Saturday, February 28, after the company announced that it would not partner with the U.S. defense department. Anthropic said it was not able to agree on the deal terms over concerns that AI would be used to surveil Americans and be used in fully autonomous weaponry. The company noted that AI is not yet ready to do that safely.
A set of consumers seemingly favored Anthropic’s position on the matter. The data suggests this. In addition, ChatGPT’s download growth was impacted by the news of its DoD partnership. U.S. downloads dropped by 13% day-over-day on Saturday. Those downloads continued to fall on Sunday, when they were down by 5% day-over-day. Before the partnership was announced, the app’s downloads had grown 14% day-over-day on Friday. These rapid changes were also reflected in Claude’s App Store ranking. The app hit No. 1 on the U.S. App Store on Saturday. It continues to sit there as of Monday, March 2. That is a jump of over 20 ranks compared with roughly a week before, which was February 22, 2026. Consumers are also sharing their opinions about OpenAI’s deal in the app’s ratings. One-star reviews for ChatGPT surged 775% on Saturday. Then the number grew 100% day-over-day on Sunday. Five-star reviews declined during the same period. They dropped by 50%.
Other third-party data providers back up Sensor Tower’s findings. Appfigures, for instance, noted that Claude’s total daily U.S. downloads on Saturday surpassed those of ChatGPT for the first time. It also saw the U.S. downloads of Claude increase. Estimates put that figure even higher, by 88% day-over-day on Saturday. Appfigures noted that Claude is now the No. 1 free iPhone app in six countries outside the U.S. These nations include Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and Switzerland. Similarweb said that Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were around 20x what they were in January. That data provider cautioned that the jump could be because of other reasons beyond the political issues. Here is the hard truth nobody wants to admit: a government contract is becoming a bigger factor in app choice than actual product utility. The industry is letting politics drive daily app choices. That is a massive problem waiting to happen for the technology sector.
Via ChatGPT uninstalls surged by 295% after DoD deal | TechCrunch
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