Regardless of how Anthropic's dispute with the Department of Defense ultimately resolves, the resulting spotlight—combined with the company's humorous Super Bowl advertisements targeting OpenAI and the rising appeal of Claude Code—has boosted Anthropic's consumer popularity to unprecedented levels. An analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions from approximately 28 million U.S. consumers provides insight into this trend.

As with any big-data study, certain limitations apply. While the dataset is substantial, it does not encompass every consumer. Consequently, it is impossible to calculate Anthropic's exact total or new user counts from this information. The data also excludes Claude's enterprise business, which forms its core revenue, and its free-tier users who do not pay at all. Estimates for total Claude consumer users vary widely, with figures ranging from 18 million to 30 million, though Anthropic has not officially disclosed this number. What stands out is that consumers opened their wallets for Claude in record numbers between January and February.

Indagari reports that most new subscribers are opting for the lowest paid tier, the "Pro" plan at $20 per month, compared to higher tiers costing $100 or $200 monthly. Data through early March confirms that this subscriber growth is ongoing, though the information is available with a two-week delay.

To summarize the reasons behind Claude's heightened consumer awareness since January: Anthropic released several Super Bowl commercials that poked fun at ChatGPT's decision to show ads to users, promising that Claude would never follow suit. The ads were both amusing and effective, even irritating OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. However, a larger controversy emerged in late January when multiple media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and Axios, began reporting on a deepening conflict between Anthropic and the DoD. The central issue was the military's permitted uses of Anthropic's AI. The company refused to allow the DoD to employ its models for lethal autonomous operations or mass surveillance of American citizens.

This dispute became increasingly public, culminating in a firm statement from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on February 26, following DoD threats to damage Anthropic's business by labeling it a supply risk—a designation the DoD subsequently applied. Lawsuits are now underway, though a federal judge temporarily blocked the department's designation this week. New user growth surged sharply throughout this period, with a particularly notable increase between the late January media reports and Amodei's statement on February 26.

Beyond the public drama, the January releases of Claude Code and Claude Cowork—developer and productivity tools—have also driven subscriptions. A key feature allows Claude to operate a computer independently, performing actions like clicking, scrolling, and task execution. This works in tandem with Dispatch, which enables users to assign tasks from their phones. These capabilities are not available to free-tier users.

Despite Anthropic's growth among U.S. consumers willing to pay for AI, Claude still trails far behind ChatGPT. While OpenAI experienced a spike in user uninstalls immediately after announcing a deal with the DoD—a contrast to Anthropic's safety stance—Indagari's data indicates that OpenAI continues to rapidly gain new paid subscribers and remains the dominant consumer AI platform overall.