Anthropic Cloud’s popularity with paying consumers is skyrocketing

Whatever the final result of Anthropy is runner With the mod, the interest it generated – along with the company’s funny Super Bowl ads With OpenAI targeting and Growing popularity From Claude Code – making Anthropic more popular with consumers than ever before.

An examination of billions of anonymous credit card transactions from nearly 28 million US consumers, conducted for TechCrunch by Searchinga consumer transaction analysis firm, shows that Cloud gained paid subscribers in record numbers.

Now, as with all big data analytics, there are caveats. Although this data is substantial, it does not include all consumers. This means that Indagari cannot calculate the total numbers of existing or new Anthropic users. It also doesn’t include the work of the Claude Foundation (which is its bread and butter) or free tier users (those who don’t pay Anthropic at all). Estimates of Claude’s total consumer users are all over the map (we’ve seen numbers ranging from 18 million to 30 million) but Anthropic doesn’t disclose that data. However, a spokesperson told TechCrunch that paid Cloud subscriptions have doubled this year.

What’s striking is that consumers pulled out their wallets in record numbers for Cloud between January and February. Interestingly enough, previous users returned to Cloud in record numbers in February as well, Indagari told TechCrunch.

Indagari tells us that the majority of new subscribers are at the lower tier, i.e. “professional” users ($20 per month, compared to $100 or $200 per month).

Data through early March confirms that subscriber growth continues. (Data are available after a two-week delay.)

To summarize why consumers have become more aware of Claude since January: Anthropic released several Super Bowl commercials that mocked ChatGPT’s decision to show ads to its users — and promised Claude it would never do the same. Stains She was funny and effective (And also I got under the skin of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman).

But the biggest buzz began in late January when multiple media sites, including The Wall Street Journal and Axios, began reporting on a deepening dispute between Anthropic and the Department of Defense. At its core, the dispute was over what the military could and could not do with Anthropic’s AI.

Anthropic has refused to allow the Department of Defense to use its AI models for autonomous lethal operations (the AI ​​would likely kill people) or mass surveillance of American citizens. This beef has become increasingly public, with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei issuing a report on it Firm public statement on February 26 amid threats by the Department of Defense to hurt Anthropic’s business by labeling the company a supply risk. This is what the Ministry of Defense did. Lawsuits are now being filed, though a federal judge this week temporarily blocked the department’s designation.

New user growth rose sharply during this period. This increase is particularly evident between those media reports issued in late January and Amodei’s statement on February 26.

Beyond Drama, Claude Code and Claude Cowork — development and productivity tools released in January — have been the driver for subscriptions. the Use of computer The feature released this week has also sparked a boom, Anthropic tells TechCrunch. This feature allows Claude to navigate through the computer independently, by clicking, scrolling, and taking actions on his own. It works with Dispatch, which lets users assign tasks from their phone. These features are not available to free tier users.

However, for all of Anthropic’s growth among US consumers willing to pay for AI, Cloud remains far behind ChatGPT.

While OpenAI Uninstalls skyrocketed immediately Having announced a deal with the Department of Defense — a move at odds with Anthropic’s safety stance — Indagari data shows that OpenAI is still gaining new paid subscribers at a rapid rate and remains the largest consumer AI platform ever.