Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot experienced temporary service outages on Friday due to a surge in users, as reports emerged that the US military used the technology in its recent strike on Iran.
Bloomberg reported that Anthropic's consumer-facing Claude application went down Friday morning. The company said it experienced "unprecedented demand" for Claude services last week and resolved all issues by 10:50 a.m. Eastern Time.
Claude had been less prominent than competitors ChatGPT and Gemini. However, Anthropic's recent conflict with the Trump administration has drawn significant public attention to the service. Claude ranked first among free apps on Apple's US App Store on April 28, with free users increasing more than 60% since January. Paid subscriptions have doubled this year.
AI Weaponization Controversy
The conflict between Anthropic and the Trump administration began last month. The Pentagon sought unrestricted use of Claude—virtually the only AI available on classified military systems—for "all lawful purposes." Anthropic opposed using AI for mass surveillance of US citizens or fully autonomous weapons.
As tensions escalated, President Trump labeled Anthropic a "leftist company" and urged all federal agencies to stop using its technology.
Despite Trump's ban, US Central Command used Claude during the recent Iran strike, according to foreign media reports. CENTCOM analyzed vast amounts of video and signal intelligence in real time through Claude to identify and select targets inside Iran.
Claude remains virtually the only AI operational on classified US military systems. The US reportedly also used Claude in the January operation to apprehend Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Military experts say no alternative AI can currently replace Claude in US operations.
China is also accelerating AI militarization. William Wei, vice president of Chinese cybersecurity firm Webray, told the South China Morning Post on Saturday that "US AI militarization is alerting the entire industry" and emphasized China's urgent need for technological self-reliance.