The Anthropic-OpenAI fight could usher in a new era: chatbot monogamy

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Anthropic vs. ChatGPT: Who ya got?

The AI giants behind two of the world's most popular chatbots, Claude and ChatGPT, have escalated their beef. Now people are picking sides.

(It looks like Katy Perry picked Claude Pro … and she liked it.)

It could represent a new stage in the AI wars. One where people settle down with one chatbot instead of playing the field.

In case you're out of the loop: Anthropic and the Department of Defense disagreed over the government's usage of its tech. Anthropic refused to back down. President Donald Trump banned federal agencies from using Anthropic. OpenAI cut a deal with the Pentagon a few hours later.

It shows how heated the rivalry between the two startups has gotten. From snarky Super Bowl ads to refusing to hold hands, here's the history of the Anthropic-OpenAI relationship.

Anthropic isn't shying away from the attention. It streamlined how users can import data from competing chatbots into Claude, which is now topping the App Store chart. "Every single day last week was an all-time record for Claude sign-ups," a spokesperson told BI.

If you're wondering about the differences between the chatbots, we break it all down here.

Ultimately, this could mark a new era of chatbot monogamy.

All signs point to AI giants pushing for more of a commitment from users.

Their top models all sit behind paywalls, with the gap between premium and free versions continuing to grow.

AI companies are also under considerable pressure to demonstrate a viable business model, potentially ahead of a public debut. A stable base of paid subscribers is a lot more appetizing to investors than a bunch of non-committal freeloaders.

Users also might gravitate toward a preferred chatbot. As experimentation fades into practical use, navigating multiple AI chats to be productive doesn't feel … productive. And if it's not free, are you really willing to pay for multiple subscriptions?

Which brings us back to Anthropic. The fight with the DoD is a perfect way to try and juice customer acquisition efforts. There are plenty of concerns about AI use. Anthropic can pitch itself as a safe antidote.

But catering to that crowd could prove challenging as competition ramps up and pressure to move quickly intensifies. Anthropic, which was founded on the proper development of AI, already weakened its foundational safety principle last week.