U.S. uninstalls of ChatGPT’s mobile app surged 295% day-over-day on February 28 following news of OpenAI’s agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense, according to data from Sensor Tower.
The spike far exceeded the app’s typical 9% day-over-day uninstall rate over the previous 30 days.
At the same time, downloads of rival chatbot Claude from Anthropic increased 37% on Friday and 51% on Saturday after Anthropic said it would not partner with the Defense Department due to concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons use.
ChatGPT downloads fell 13% on Saturday and declined a further 5% on Sunday, reversing a 14% increase recorded before the announcement.
Claude rose to the No. 1 position on the U.S. App Store over the weekend and also topped rankings in several other countries.
One-star reviews for ChatGPT increased 775% on Saturday, while five-star reviews declined 50%, Sensor Tower said.
Other analytics firms, including Appfigures and Similarweb, reported similar trends, though they cautioned that broader market dynamics may also have influenced download growth.
