TL;DR

OpenAI has amended its classified AI deal with the US Pentagon to explicitly prohibit domestic surveillance, after CEO Sam Altman admitted the original agreement was “opportunistic and sloppy.” ChatGPT daily uninstall rates have surged 200% since the deal was announced, while rival Anthropic’s Claude app rose to the top of Apple’s App Store.

What Happened

The original deal, announced last Friday, followed the Trump administration’s decision to stop working with Anthropic after the company refused to drop its policy against fully autonomous weapons. OpenAI stepped in to supply AI for the Pentagon’s classified network.

On Monday, Altman posted on X to announce amendments including an explicit prohibition on using OpenAI’s systems for “domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.” Intelligence agencies such as the NSA would also need a separate contract modification to access the system.

“We were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy,” Altman said.

User Reaction

The commercial impact has been swift. According to Sensor Tower, the daily average ChatGPT uninstall rate jumped 200% compared to normal rates following the Pentagon announcement.

Meanwhile, Anthropic’s Claude climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store rankings, where it remained as of Tuesday — a direct beneficiary of user backlash against OpenAI’s military partnership.

The Broader AI and Defence Picture

Despite Anthropic’s blacklisting by the Trump administration, CBS News reported that Claude was still in use by the US military as of Tuesday during operations related to Iran.

The UK is also deeply connected to this landscape. The Ministry of Defence recently signed a £240m contract with Palantir, whose AI-powered Maven platform integrates large language models — including Claude — into NATO intelligence operations.

Professor Mariarosaria Taddeo of Oxford University told the BBC that with Anthropic out of the Pentagon, “the most safety-conscious actor” was now “out from the room.”

Looking Forward

The episode highlights the tension between commercial AI companies and military contracts. For UK businesses and policymakers, the question is whether AI governance standards in defence procurement can keep pace with the speed at which these deals are being struck — and revised.