Why users are mass cancelling their ChatGPT subscriptions. Sam Altman says he ‘shouldn’t have rushed’ Pentagon deal- The Week

OpenAI’s deal with the US Department of War has created a backlash from many of its users who are now mass-cancelling their subscriptions to ChatGPT.

Many users are reportedly leaving the AI chatbot and switching to Anthorpic’s Claude after the company refused to give the Pentagon unrestricted access to its models.

Over the weekend, “cancel ChatGPT” trended across Reddit and X.

Reports said that uninstallations of the chatbot’s mobile app jumped to 295 per cent on Saturday. ChatGPT downloads also fell by 13 per cent on Saturday. One-star reviews for the app also grew by about 775 per cent on Saturday and then grew by 100 per cent on the following day.

Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude surged 37 per cent on Friday and 51 per cent on Saturday.

The same day, Claude became the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the US, according to data from Sensor Tower. In an internal report, the company said that its free users grew by more than 60 per cent.

U.S. President Donald Trump had ordered Federal agencies to stop using Anthropic after the company refused the deal.

One website that called for the boycott of ChatGPT claims that more than 1.5 million users cancelled their subscriptions.

They cite multiple reasons, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s acceptance of the Pentagon deal and their ‘resume screening tool’ collaboration with the Trump administration’s ICE. They also mention OpenAI president Greg Brockman and his wife’s $25 million donation to MAGA Inc in 2025 and how Sam Altman donated $1M to Trump’s 2025 Inaugural Fund.

Altman had reassured on Friday that the deal they made with the Pentagon would have “prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance” and maintain “human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems.”

However, OpenAI immediately jumping to the deal has many wary of the assurance given.

In one post, Altman said that he made a mistake and said that he “shouldn’t have rushed to the deadline on Friday.”

“The issues are super complex and demand clear communication. We were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy. Good learning experience for me as we face higher-stakes decisions in the future,” Altman wrote.

In his most recent post, Altman said that the company was working with the DoW to make its principles very clear.

“The democratic process must stay in control, and we must democratize AI. OpenAI should not decide the fate of the world; no private company should. We need to work with governments, but also we need to make sure individuals get increasing power.” He also said that he reiterated that Anthropic should not be designated as a Supply Chain Risk, and that we hope the DoW offers them the same terms we’ve agreed to.