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

Compared to the 9% daily average uninstall rate of ChatGPT over the past 30 days, a 295% single-day increase is a significant anomaly.

Author: TechCrunch / Sensor Tower

Translation: Deep潮 TechFlow

Deep潮 Guide: The news of OpenAI collaborating with the U.S. Department of Defense (renamed “Department of War” during the Trump administration) has sparked fierce reactions among users.

Meanwhile, Anthropic has gained user trust by refusing to cooperate, with Claude’s daily downloads skyrocketing and reaching the top of the App Store. This data directly quantifies the real impact of AI ethics stances on user behavior.

Full Text:

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 that OpenAI signed a cooperation 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’ average daily uninstall rate of 9%, the 295% single-day increase is a notable anomaly.

Meanwhile, OpenAI’s competitor Anthropic saw a reverse increase in downloads of Claude in the U.S. — up 37% on February 27 (Friday) from the previous day, and a further 51% on February 28 (Saturday). Previously, Anthropic announced it refused to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Defense, citing inability to reach agreement on cooperation terms — concerned that AI would be used to monitor U.S. citizens and in autonomous weapon systems that are not yet safe.

Data indicates that a significant portion of users support Anthropic’s stance on this issue.

ChatGPT’s downloads were also affected. After the cooperation news was announced, its U.S. downloads dropped 13% on Saturday 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 saw 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 opinions on the 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 first surpassed ChatGPT. They 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 is now topping the free iPhone app charts in six countries outside the U.S., including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and Switzerland.

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