Downloads of Anthropic’s Claude chatbot app surged in the US after the AI startup’s spat with the Pentagon escalated.
Anthropic refused to give the US military unfettered access to its technology, prompting the Department of Defense to designate the company a “supply chain risk,” meaning no one that does business with the US military can do business with Anthropic.
Daily Claude signups have tripled since November, the company said, showing how the startup can benefit if it is “remembered as a principled and moral actor,” Semafor’s tech editor wrote.
Still, he noted, existing laws and built-in safeguards would have addressed the same concerns Anthropic raised, including domestic surveillance by the Pentagon, which is already illegal.