ChatGPT Uninstalls Surge 295% After OpenAI Accepts Pentagon Contract

A Pentagon contract just cost OpenAI millions of its loyal customers in a single weekend.

ChatGPT, OpenAI’s flagship product, saw a massive spike in uninstallations from US users, with a 295% day-over-day increase on Feb. 28. The surge followed public backlash after OpenAI signed a military partnership with the US Department of Defense, a deal that rival AI company Anthropic had previously declined over ethical concerns.

How a Pentagon deal became a PR catastrophe

The deal with OpenAI dates back to July 2025, when Anthropic closed a $200 contract to integrate Claude into classified military networks. In January 2026, Anthropic raised a concern about its use in lethal missions, such as planning the capture of President Nicholas Maduro.

On Feb. 13, news leaked that the Pentagon was furious with the company, accusing it of trying to “veto” military operations based on its own private ethics. By Feb. 24, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a deadline to agree to an “All lawful Purpose” by Friday or face penalties.

Two days later, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei replied with a refusal, which led to President Trump and the Pentagon banning and blacklist Anthropic, designating them a supply chain risk, meaning government agencies could no longer do business with Anthropic.

In a blog post, Anthropic explained that the ban was based on their refusal to comply with two critical demands, which involve using a custom ChatGPT instance through GenAI.mil for autonomous weapons and mass surveillance of American citizens.

Right after this, OpenAI swept in and took the deal, accepting the terms that Anthropic didn’t.

But just a few hours after it was announced, the news took the internet by storm and was not well-received as users felt betrayed. Reddit threads were started, urging existing users to “Cancel and Delete” the app.

Altman speaks, admits he fumbled

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X to acknowledge that the rollout was badly handled and to clarify some details about the deal. “We shouldn’t have rushed to get this out on Friday”, he wrote.

He further announced plans to amend the contract with the government, adding that the AI systems would not be used for domestic surveillance of US citizens.

He went on to add that the US government should reverse its decision to keep out Anthropic and Claude from working with official agencies, describing it as a “very bad decision”.

The numbers look ugly for OpenAI

Market intelligence provider Sensor Tower data, first reported by TechCrunch, revealed that beyond the staggering 295% spike in uninstalls, overall US downloads for the ChatGPT app fell 13% day over day on Saturday and dropped another 5% on Sunday.

Users’ sentiment was reflected in the app reviews. One-star reviews kept pouring in till it surged to a 775% on Saturday, then to another 100% on Sunday, according to Sensor Tower. Meanwhile, 5-star reviews fell sharply, over 50% within the two days

This is in stark contrast to last year, when the app was the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store for 2025.

Claude’s best weekend since launch

While OpenAI and its CEO took to social platforms like X to do some damage control, its competitor, Anthropic, quietly experienced one of its best weekends in years. Anthropic’s Claude mobile app saw a 37% day-over-day spike in US downloads on Feb. 27, followed by another 51% jump on Saturday.

At the end of the weekend, Claude’s app rose more than 20 ranks to become No. 1 on the US app store, up from No. 2 the previous week.

What this moment actually means for AI

This event underscores a fact that the AI industry has long underestimated: users pay close attention to the ethics of the products they consume, not just the exciting features. It also shows how much the stance of the AI giants matters on issues of national security.

Curious what OpenAI might be building next? Check out our coverage of the accidental GPT-5.4 Codex leak and what it reveals about OpenAI’s rapid model updates.

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