In this illustration, the Claude AI app is seen within the app retailer on a cellphone on February 16, 2026 in New York City. According to reviews from the Wall Street Journal, the Defense Department used Anthropic’s Claude Ai, through its Palantir contract, to assist with the assault on Venezuela and seize former President Nicolás Maduro.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Anthropic’s Claude synthetic intelligence assistant app jumped to the No. 1 slot on Apple’s chart of prime U.S. free apps late on Saturday, a day after the Trump administration sought to dam authorities businesses’ adoption of the startup’s know-how.
The rise in reputation means that Anthropic is benefiting from its presence in information headlines, stemming from its refusal to have its fashions used for mass home surveillance or for totally autonomous weapons.
“The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution,” President Donald Trump wrote in a Friday Truth Social put up.
Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated he requested that Anthropic be labeled as a supply-chain risk to national security, and due to this fact, no U.S. protection contractor would have the ability to draw on Anthropic instruments.
“It is the Department’s prerogative to select contractors most aligned with their vision,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated in a statement. “But given the substantial value that Anthropic’s technology provides to our armed forces, we hope they reconsider.”
Historically, different AI chat apps have been extra common amongst shoppers than Claude. OpenAI’s ChatGPT sat at No. 2 on the App Store rankings on Saturday, whereas Google’s Gemini was at No. 4.
The Claude iOS app has gained momentum this month. On Jan. 30, it was ranked No. 131 within the U.S., and it bounced across the prime 20 for a lot of February, in accordance with knowledge from analytics firm Sensor Tower. The knowledge reveals ChatGPT has held on to the No. 1 spot for many of February.
Anthropic’s rely of free customers have elevated by over 60% since January, with day by day sign-ups tripling since November, breaking an all-time report day by day this week, a spokesperson stated in an e mail. Its paying subscribers have greater than doubled this yr, the spokesperson stated.
In the previous yr, Anthropic — which was shaped in 2021 by former OpenAI staff — has gained momentum as a provider of fashions for coding and common company use. OpenAI, whose ChatGPT now has over 900 million weekly customers, has been responding to Anthropic’s surge in enterprise by striking partnerships with consulting companies comparable to Accenture and Capgemini.
On Friday evening, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated the startup had reached an agreement with the U.S. Defense Department on the deployment of its fashions.
Hours later, pop singer Katy Perry posted a screenshot of Anthropic’s Pro subscription for shoppers, with a coronary heart superimposed over it.
WATCH: Sec. Pete Hegseth directs Pentagon to designate Anthropic supply-chain risk
