The AI chatbot Claude has leapfrogged OpenAI’s ChatGPT to become the most downloaded free app on Apple’s U.S. App Store. The climb comes amid growing public scrutiny of ChatGPT following OpenAI’s announcement that it would collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense to deploy AI technology on classified networks.
Earlier this week, President Trump directed all federal agencies to immediately stop using any AI technology from Anthropic, the company behind Claude. The order followed a week-long standoff in which the administration sought to have Anthropic allow its technology to support mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous military weapons — two uses the company had refused to approve.
Why some users are leaving ChatGPT
To protest OpenAI’s government contract, some are leaving the platform for other AI models
Once Anthropic left the conversation, OpenAI stepped in, and the backlash has been swift — users are jumping ship from ChatGPT to other AI tools in what can feel like a protest. Social media platforms, forums, and app reviews show many switching from ChatGPT to Claude, citing concerns over the ethical implications of how AI might be deployed.
“QuitGPT” has emerged as the latest expression of a growing wave of users and activists abandoning the chatbot. In recent weeks, Reddit has been flooded with posts from people sharing their experiences quitting ChatGPT. The latest chapter of frustration with OpenAI policy outcry over other issues like OpenAI President Greg Brockman made a $25 million personal donation to a pro-Trump super PAC or ICE using GPT-4–powered tools in hiring and screening. According to a recent report from Tom’s Guide, 700,000 users are reportedly ditching ChatGPT for other tools.
What AI alternatives are people using?
For many users leaving ChatGPT, Claude has become the go-to alternative — both for its performance and its principled stance.
According to Mashable, an Anthropic spokesperson said that free users of Claude have grown by more than 60% since January, daily signups have tripled since November — setting new records every day this week — and paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year. The spokesperson added that Claude was ranked #42 in the U.S. App Store before Super Bowl LX and has since climbed into the top 10.
Outside of the recent political and ethical controversies, many users prefer Claude over ChatGPT for its larger context window, flexible writing styles, and superior data visualization and artifact tools.
Other AI chatbots are also attracting users. Google’s Gemini is popular for those embedded in the Google ecosystem, offering deep integration with Gmail, Docs, and Drive, along with image and music generation features in chat. Perplexity appeals to developers and technical users looking for raw reasoning performance and lower API costs.
Across the board, the trend shows that consumers are actively weighing not just features, but ethics and governance when choosing their AI tools — a shift that has made the market more competitive than ever.
