March 3, 2026 U.S. uninstalls of ChatGPT’s mobile app surged 295 per cent day over day on Feb. 28 after OpenAI announced it would deploy its models on a classified U.S. Department of Defense network, according to data from Sensor Tower. The spike, far above the app’s typical 9 per cent day-over-day uninstall rate, coincided with a download jump for rival Anthropic’s Claude.
Sensor Tower said ChatGPT’s U.S. downloads fell 13 per cent day over day on Saturday following news of the Pentagon agreement and dropped a further 5 per cent on Sunday. By contrast, Claude’s U.S. downloads rose 37 per cent on Feb. 27 and 51 per cent on Feb. 28 after Anthropic said it would not move forward with a similar defence arrangement.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote that he “cannot in good conscience accede to the Pentagon’s request” for unrestricted access to the company’s AI systems. “In a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values,” he added.
Hours after negotiations reportedly broke down, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted that the company would “deploy our models in their classified network,” stating that the department had shown “a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome.”
App Store rankings reflected the shift. Claude reached No. 1 on the U.S. App Store on Feb. 28, climbing more than 20 positions from the prior week. Appfigures reported that Claude’s U.S. downloads surpassed ChatGPT’s for the first time on Saturday and estimated an 88 per cent day-over-day increase. Similarweb said Claude’s U.S. downloads over the past week were roughly 20 times January levels, while cautioning that factors beyond the defence debate may have contributed.
Consumer response also appeared in app ratings. Sensor Tower reported that one-star reviews for ChatGPT rose 775 per cent on Saturday and doubled again Sunday, while five-star reviews fell 50 per cent.
An online campaign called “QuitGPT” claims more than 1.5 million people have taken action by cancelling subscriptions, sharing boycott messages or registering via its website. The group argues that OpenAI’s defence agreement places profit ahead of safety and is organizing a protest outside OpenAI’s San Francisco headquarters.
