Claude is the top free app on iPhone right now, and the Pentagon drama is basically why

Ripple effect: Anthropic has been all over the news lately for refusing to let the US military use its technology for autonomous weapons and surveillance. That decision may have cost the company a major deal and, potentially, hundreds of millions of dollars. Some of those losses may now be offset, however, as Claude – the company's AI chatbot – has climbed to number one on Apple's App Store. In the process, it has even dethroned ChatGPT.

That happened late on Saturday, February 28, and as of this writing, Claude is still holding the top spot. ChatGPT has slipped to second place, with Google's Gemini trailing in third. It's a remarkable rise for an app that wasn't even in the top 100 back in January.

As for what's driving the surge, it turns out that a very public fight with the Pentagon can do wonders for download ...