ChatGPT Uninstall Rates Surge After OpenAI-Pentagon Partnership
User uninstalls of the ChatGPT app in the U.S. increased sharply following OpenAI's partnership with the Department of Defense, while competitor Anthropic's Claude app experienced a surge in downloads. The shift reflects user concerns about AI partnerships with military organizations and growing interest in AI safety.
Uninstallations of the ChatGPT mobile app in the United States soared by 295% on February 28, following OpenAI’s announcement of a partnership with the Department of Defense (DoD), according to data from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm. This sudden increase marks a significant deviation from ChatGPT’s prior 30-day average daily uninstall rate of 9%.
At the same time, U.S. downloads of the ChatGPT app dropped by 13% on Saturday and an additional 5% on Sunday, an indication of negative user sentiment. Ratings data supported this trend: one-star reviews for the app surged by 775% on Saturday, while five-star reviews were halved.
The user backlash appears to coincide closely with OpenAI’s controversial decision to work with the U.S. Department of Defense, recently rebranded as the Department of War under the current administration. The partnership aims to integrate large language models—AI systems trained to generate human-like text—into military infrastructure.
In contrast, Anthropic, OpenAI’s chief competitor and a Public Benefit Corporation founded by several former OpenAI executives, reported a 51% increase in U.S. downloads for its Claude app on Saturday. Anthropic publicly declined the Pentagon’s advances, citing concerns about domestic surveillance and the potential risks associated with fully autonomous weaponry.
App ranking data from Appfigures shows that Claude climbed over 20 spots to reach the top position in the U.S. App Store, temporarily overtaking ChatGPT in daily downloads. As of Saturday, Claude was also the top free iPhone app in several countries outside the U.S., including Canada and Germany.
Industry analysts at Similarweb noted that while political sentiment and concerns about defense applications of AI appear to be primary drivers behind the rise in Claude downloads, the app’s popularity had already been strengthening since January for a variety of reasons.
OpenAI, originally an artificial intelligence research non-profit, adopted a capped-profit model in 2019 to secure greater computing resources for large-scale AI development, including the widely used ChatGPT chatbot. Anthropic, meanwhile, emphasizes "AI safety"—a set of practices and principles to ensure responsible AI development and deployment—and is backed by major investors such as Amazon and Google.
The recent developments highlight growing public scrutiny around the use of advanced AI technologies in military applications and underline the role of consumer sentiment in shaping the competitive dynamics of the generative AI and chatbot markets.
Reference: dataconomy.com
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