Claude surpasses ChatGPT to become the leading free AI app.
The AI chatbot Claude has surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free app on Apple's App Store in the US. This growth comes amid increasing public scrutiny of ChatGPT following OpenAI's announcement of a partnership with the US Department of Defense to deploy AI technology on classified networks.
Earlier this week, President Trump directed all federal agencies to immediately cease using any AI technology from Anthropic, the company behind Claude. This order came after a week-long stalemate in which the administration sought to force Anthropic to allow its technology to support large-scale domestic surveillance and fully automated military weapons – two uses the company had refused to approve.
Why are some users leaving ChatGPT?
In protest against OpenAI's contract with the government, some users are leaving the platform to switch to other AI models.
After Anthropic withdrew from the negotiations, OpenAI intervened, and a backlash ensued quickly – users are switching from ChatGPT to other AI tools, which could be considered a protest. Social media platforms, forums, and app reviews show many people are switching from ChatGPT to Claude, citing concerns about ethical issues related to the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) .
'QuitGPT' has emerged as the latest manifestation of a growing wave of users and activists abandoning the chatbot. In recent weeks, Reddit has been flooded with posts from people sharing their experiences of stopping ChatGPT. This latest chapter of frustration with OpenAI's policy stems from other issues such as OpenAI President Greg Brockman's personal donation of $25 million to a pro-Trump super PAC or ICE's use of GPT-4-based tools in recruitment and screening. According to a recent report from Tom's Guide, approximately 700,000 users are reportedly abandoning ChatGPT in favor of other tools.
What AI alternatives are users currently using?
For many users who have abandoned ChatGPT, Claude has become the top alternative – both in terms of performance and its principled stance.
According to Mashable, a spokesperson for Anthropic said that Claude's free user base has increased by more than 60% since January, daily subscriptions have tripled since November – setting new daily records this week – and the number of paid subscribers has more than doubled this year. The spokesperson added that Claude was ranked 42nd on the US App Store before Super Bowl LX and has since climbed into the top 10.
Aside from recent political and ethical controversies, many users prefer Claude over ChatGPT because of its larger context window, flexible writing style, and superior data visualization and composition tools.
Other AI chatbots are also gaining traction. Google Gemini is favored by users of the Google ecosystem, offering deep integration with Gmail, Docs, and Drive, along with features for creating images and music in conversations. Perplexity, on the other hand, appeals to developers and technical users seeking powerful inference performance and lower API costs.
Overall, this trend shows that consumers are actively considering not only features but also ethics and governance when choosing their AI tools – a shift that has made the market more competitive than ever.
