On the day OpenAI signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, ChatGPT's US uninstallation rate surged by 300%

Author: TechCrunch / Sensor Tower

Translation: Deep潮 TechFlow

Deep潮 Guide: News of OpenAI partnering with the U.S. Department of Defense (renamed “Department of War” during the Trump administration) has sparked fierce backlash among users.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has gained user trust by refusing to cooperate, leading to a surge in Claude downloads and topping the App Store. This data directly quantifies the real impact of AI ethics stances on user behavior.

Full text below:

On Saturday, February 28, the number of U.S. users uninstalling the ChatGPT mobile app surged by 295% compared to the previous day. This reaction was directly triggered by the news of OpenAI signing a partnership agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), which was renamed “Department of War” during the Trump administration.

This data comes from market research firm Sensor Tower. Compared to the past 30 days, when ChatGPT had an average daily uninstall rate of 9%, a 295% single-day increase is a significant anomaly.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s competitor Anthropic’s Claude saw a reverse growth in downloads in the U.S. On Friday, February 27, it increased by 37% compared to the previous day, and on Saturday, February 28, it further increased by 51%. Previously, Anthropic announced it refused to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Defense, citing an inability to reach agreement on cooperation terms—fearing AI would be used for citizen surveillance and in autonomous weapon systems that are not yet safe.

Data shows that a considerable portion of users tend to support Anthropic’s stance on this issue.

ChatGPT’s downloads were also affected. After the cooperation news was announced, its U.S. downloads on Saturday dropped by 13% compared to the previous day. The decline continued into Sunday, with a further 5% decrease. In contrast, on the Friday before the announcement, the app experienced a 14% daily growth.

These rapid changes are also reflected in Claude’s App Store ranking. On Saturday, Claude reached the top of the U.S. App Store free app chart and maintained that position as of Monday, March 2. This is over 20 places higher than about a week earlier (February 22, 2026).

Users also expressed their attitudes toward OpenAI’s cooperation decision through app ratings. Sensor Tower data shows that on Saturday, the number of 1-star reviews for ChatGPT surged by 775%, and on Sunday, it increased another 100% week-over-week; meanwhile, 5-star reviews decreased by 50% during the same period.

Other third-party data providers corroborated Sensor Tower’s findings.

For example, Appfigures noted that on Saturday, Claude’s total U.S. daily downloads surpassed ChatGPT for the first time. The firm also observed an increase in Claude’s U.S. downloads, with an estimated daily growth rate of 88% on Saturday.

Appfigures also noted that Claude has now topped the free iPhone app charts in six countries outside the U.S., including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and Switzerland.

A third market research firm, Similarweb, stated that Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were about 20 times those in January, but cautioned that this may not be entirely due to political factors, and other reasons may also be involved.