Anthropic’s Claude is witnessing a meteoric rise in mobile engagement and app installations, defying the fallout from its recent public disagreement with the U.S. Pentagon. The surge follows CEO Dario Amodei’s refusal to permit government utilization of Anthropic’s AI systems for mass surveillance or autonomous weaponry, a decision that led officials to label the company a “supply-chain risk.”
Market Data Reveals Consumer Shift
Data from app intelligence provider Appfigures indicates that consumer sentiment has shifted in favor of Anthropic. As of March 2, Claude’s mobile app saw 149,000 daily downloads in the U.S., outpacing ChatGPT’s 124,000. This uptick suggests that users are increasingly prioritizing the ethical stance of AI developers when choosing their digital tools.
While downloads signal new interest, active user metrics provide a clearer picture of sustained engagement. According to Similarweb, Claude’s mobile application reached 11.3 million daily active users (DAU) on March 2. This represents a 183% increase since the beginning of the year, when usage hovered at 4 million.
Competitive Landscape and Web Traffic
Claude’s growth trajectory has allowed it to surpass competitors like Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot in daily active users. While ChatGPT remains the market leader with 250.5 million DAU on the same date, Claude’s momentum is undeniable. The surge in usage aligns precisely with the timeline of Anthropic’s tense negotiations with the Department of Defense.
Web traffic analytics further reinforce this trend. Claude experienced a 43% month-over-month increase in web traffic throughout February, marking a 297.7% growth compared to the previous year. Conversely, ChatGPT saw a 6.5% decline in web traffic during the same period, while Google’s Gemini posted a marginal 2.1% growth—a significant slowdown compared to its historical performance.
Global Dominance and Record Sign-ups
Anthropic confirmed that it is currently seeing over 1 million new sign-ups daily. The Claude app has secured the No. 1 spot on the U.S. App Store and holds top rankings in 15 other nations, including Germany, the U.K., Canada, and France. Internal records show that the company has broken its own daily sign-up threshold every day since early last week.
While the company maintains a policy of not commenting on specific third-party data, an Anthropic spokesperson noted that daily active users have more than tripled since the start of 2026, with paid subscriptions doubling in the same timeframe.