“Anthropic’s Claude hit No. 1 in U.S. app downloads Saturday, overtaking ChatGPT, after the Pentagon blacklisted the company for refusing to loosen safeguards for military use of its AI model.”
“Why it matters: The long-term business impact for Anthropic remains unclear. But in the short term, the clash has fueled interest in Claude, as some social media users call for dumping ChatGPT over OpenAI’s deal with the Pentagon.”
“Catch up quick: Anthropic lost its Pentagon contract Friday over a dispute about military use of Claude, shortly after President Trump blasted it as a “Radical Left AI company.”
“Anthropic drew red lines against using its AI for mass surveillance and autonomous lethal weapons.”
“Hours later, OpenAI — maker of ChatGPT — announced its own Pentagon deal after the Defense Department agreed to red lines similar to Anthropic’s.”
“Anthropic vowed to “challenge any supply chain risk designation in court,” and said no “intimidation or punishment from the Department of War” would force it to cave.”
It’s unclear if the market is choosing sides over the tussle, and it may be a case of heightened publicity for Anthropic over the issue. There is building anecdotal data here:
“Zoom in: The Instagram account “quitGPT“ gained about 10,000 followers following the news, according to its operator.”
“A Reddit post about OpenAI winning the Pentagon contract racked up 30,000 upvotes under a post saying “Cancel and Delete ChatGPT!!!”
“A viral video appeared to show chalk art outside Anthropic’s offices in San Francisco reading “you give us courage.”
“People on social media have pointed to OpenAI president Greg Brockman’s previous $25 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC as part of their rationale for moving away from ChatGPT.”
But it’s not just Anthropic vs OpenAI. Other competitors, including open source ones from China and elsewhere, are gaining steam:
“By the numbers: Data from OpenRouter measuring model usage over the last month shows twelve different models now outpace OpenAI.”
“Claude’s Sonnet 4.5 ranked fifth for February, according to the data, and the top model was from China-based MiniMax.”
“Reality check: ChatGPT is still right behind Claude on the app store charts and has a first-mover advantage on AI.”
“What’s next: While the winners and losers of the AI race are constantly shifting, Claude has been on fire, particularly with enterprises after several product launches made for swift business adoption.”
“Now, a blowup with its own government is spreading that popularity into the broader zeitgeist.”
It’s early days of course to call a winner in this AI Tech Wave.
And both CEOs Sam Altman and Dario Amodei are laser focused on the mind and market share in the race. Not to mention on the competition on ramping up AI Data Center Compute at scale at both OpenAI and Anthropic.
But ‘first mover’ perceptions are key in every tech wave. And this AI one is no different. With the stakes being global from the get go. Stay tuned.
(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here)
