Chronicle of the Collapse in Numbers
I analyzed the latest data from tracking services, and here is the picture as of early March 2026:
* Explosive outflow. On February 28, 2026 alone, the daily rate of ChatGPT app deletions jumped by an incredible +295%, and this continues against the backdrop of US military actions. This is not just an outflow, it's a flight.
* Million-dollar losses. According to various estimates, from 700 thousand to 2.5 million users have already canceled paid Plus subscriptions or publicly pledged to do so. This is hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue going to competitors.
* Collapse of dominance. The market share of ChatGPT, which a year ago seemed unshakable at 69%, has rapidly collapsed to 45%.
What led to this? The reason is not in the quality of answers from AI, but in the loss of trust. The trigger was OpenAI's contract with the US Department of Defense (Pentagon). Sam Altman had to hastily justify himself and introduce clauses prohibiting the use of technologies for internal surveillance of US citizens, but it was too late. The audience perceived this as a betrayal of the principles of security and independence.
Where are users going? Ethical Renaissance of Claude
The absolute winner in this situation is the company Anthropic with its neural network Claude:
* Ideological choice. The audience is massively migrating to Claude precisely because Anthropic refused a similar contract with the Pentagon. The company stated that providing unlimited access to models to the military contradicts democratic values.
* New leader. The Claude app instantly soared to the top spot in app stores, displacing ChatGPT.
* Convenient migration. Taking advantage of the moment, Anthropic rolled out tools for seamless transfer of data from competitor chatbots.
As alternatives, users are also actively considering Google Gemini, Qwen, and open-source models.
In 2026, ethics and trust in the developer became a decisive factor even for the most advanced technologies. If you are building an AI strategy for your company, factor in the risks of changing providers today.
Are you ready to cancel your ChatGPT subscription (if you have one) because of its cooperation with the US military?
Evgeny Dzhamalov