App installs of ChatGPT’s mobile app in the US surged 295% day-to-day on Saturday, February 28, as consumers responded to the news of OpenAI’s deal with the Department of Defense (DoD), which has been rebranded under the Trump administration as War Department.
This data, which comes from the market information provider Sensor towerrepresents a sizable increase compared to ChatGPT’s typical day-to-day uninstall rate of 9% as measured over the past 30 days.
Meanwhile, US downloads for OpenAI competitor Anthropic’s Claude rose 37% day-to-day on Friday, February 27, and 51% since Saturday, February 28, after the company announced it would no longer work with the US Department of Defense. Anthropic said it was unable to agree to the terms of the deal because of concerns that the AI would be used to spy on Americans and be used in fully autonomous weapons, something AI is not yet ready to do safely.
A set of consumers seemingly favored Anthropic’s position on the issue, the data suggests.
Additionally, ChatGPT’s download growth was affected by news of its partnership with the DoD, with its US downloads down 13% day-to-day on Saturday, shortly after news of its deal broke. Those downloads continued to decline on Sunday, when they were down 5% day-to-day. (Before the partnership was announced, the app’s downloads were up 14% day-to-day on Friday.)
These rapid changes were also reflected in Claude’s App Store rankings, as the app shot to No. 1 in the US App Store on Saturday, where it remains as of Monday, March 2. That’s a jump of more than 20 points compared to about a week ago (February 22, 2026).
Consumers are also sharing their views on the OpenAI deal in app reviews, where 1-star reviews for ChatGPT increased 775% on Saturday and then increased 100% day-to-day on Sunday, Sensor Tower said. Five-star reviews declined over the same period, down 50%.
Other third-party data providers support Sensor Tower’s findings.
Appfiguresfor example, he noted that Claude’s total US daily downloads on Saturday surpassed ChatGPT’s for the first time. He also saw Claude’s US downloads increase, but his estimates put that figure even higher: up 88% day-to-day on Saturday.
It noted that Claude is now the No. 1 free iPhone app in six countries, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland and the US
A third party provider of market information, Similar Websaid Claude’s downloads in the US last week were about 20 times what they were in January, but that could be due to reasons other than political issues, he cautioned.
