Anthropic is experiencing an unexpected surge in popularity after refusing the Trump administration's demand for "unlimited use" of its AI technology. American users are switching to Anthropic's artificial intelligence service and showing active support for the company's stance against the administration.
According to Downdetector, a website that tracks IT service outages, approximately 2,100 reports of service disruptions for Claude, Anthropic's AI chatbot, were filed on the morning of June 2 (local time). Anthropic explained that the outage was caused by system overload from a surge in users, stating, "We experienced difficulties restoring systems due to unprecedented demand for Claude services last week."
According to Anthropic, the number of free Claude users has increased more than 60% since January, and paid subscribers have doubled this year. On May 28, Claude surpassed OpenAI's ChatGPT to claim the top spot in the free app rankings on Apple's U.S. App Store.
The surge in Claude users came after Anthropic gained attention from its conflict with the Trump administration. The Department of Defense (War Department) pressured Anthropic to agree to unrestricted use of Claude for all purposes. Anthropic pushed back, maintaining that AI should not be used for mass surveillance of citizens or fully autonomous weapons.
President Trump ultimately condemned Anthropic as "radical left" on May 27 and urged all federal agencies to stop using the company's technology. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk—the first such designation for a U.S. company—blocking any company using Claude from doing business with the Pentagon.
While the Trump administration has moved to expel Anthropic after signing a contract with competitor OpenAI, support for Anthropic is spreading across the AI market. Business Insider analyzed that "Claude reached the top of the App Store because ChatGPT users defected to show support for Anthropic."
As public opinion turned unfavorable, OpenAI belatedly moved to modify its Pentagon contract. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the company would include a clause prohibiting mass surveillance in the contract.