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

zohaibahd

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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 numbers. As noted above, Anthropic walked away from a deal with the Department of Defense after failing to secure assurances that its models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance.

The DoD was obviously not thrilled about that. In fact, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went as far as pushing to label Anthropic a "supply-chain risk" to national security. Even Sam Altman weighed in during an AMA on X, calling the designation "a very bad decision" and "an extremely scary precedent" – a notable comment to make about a direct rival.

Following Hegseth's move, President Trump escalated the situation by ordering federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's tools altogether. He also took to Truth Social to describe the company as "leftwing nut jobs" who made a "disastrous mistake."

Yet instead of scaring users away, the controversy appears to have had the opposite effect. Downloads of Claude surged, and a "cancel ChatGPT" trend gained traction across Reddit and other social platforms. OpenAI had stepped in to replace Anthropic on the defense contract, and many ChatGPT users weren't happy about that.

Anthropic has backed the uptick with its own data, saying free signups have jumped more than 60% since January. Meanwhile, paid subscribers have doubled over the past year. The company also ran a Super Bowl ad, mocking OpenAI for introducing ads to ChatGPT. That probably didn't hurt either.

That said, despite Trump's directive, Claude is reportedly still in use at several government agencies, including US Central Command. A complete transition to GPT, if it happens at all, could take time.

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Claude Code is so expensive :((
Not really, I've been using it for months now and it saves me hours of my own time. Can I code? Yeah, don't want to? No. So when I'm screaming around in my garage with arduinos and Pis, I can get back to building random crap instead of spending hours coding. I literally spend more at a the pub in a night than I do on Claude everymonth.
 
Claude - in general that is, I'm no coder - is head and shoulders above the rest, in my experience. I did a lot of side by side comparisons some months ago, feeding identical copies of a complex query into each side by side, and claude's was the most 'intuitive' and polished. ChatGPT has always turned me off with its predilection for doing bullet points and bolding and 'actionable item' stuff, when you just asked it something you were curious about. I have the annual plan, seemed worth it to not have to worry so much about burning through the limits too quickly. It's provided a ton of helpful and valuable assistance.

All that said, that testing was coming up on a year ago, so my previous impressions of the others could be wildly off. But Claude shows no shortcomings, and thankfully you can turn down or off the sycophantic bias garbage.
 
This is just the latest "I hate Trump" campaign.

Woke busybodies take a dopamine hit when they do something other woke busybodies approve. Installing an app costs nothing. Claiming you've cancelled your ChatGPT subscription (without having one, of course) costs even less, and you get plenty of upvotes.

All this is a tempest in a teapot.
Claude is a really good model, by the way, and all this "drama" could have been easily avoided had both sides behaved in a slightly more mature fashion.
 
This is just the latest "I hate Trump" campaign.

Woke busybodies take a dopamine hit when they do something other woke busybodies approve. Installing an app costs nothing. Claiming you've cancelled your ChatGPT subscription (without having one, of course) costs even less, and you get plenty of upvotes.

All this is a tempest in a teapot.
Claude is a really good model, by the way, and all this "drama" could have been easily avoided had both sides behaved in a slightly more mature fashion.
If you don't hate trump then you have other problems and "woke" isn't it.
 
Not really, I've been using it for months now and it saves me hours of my own time. Can I code? Yeah, don't want to? No. So when I'm screaming around in my garage with arduinos and Pis, I can get back to building random crap instead of spending hours coding. I literally spend more at a the pub in a night than I do on Claude everymonth.
The pub? When did you move to merry ol' Ireland? XD
 
The pub? When did you move to merry ol' Ireland? XD
My local watering hole is literally named "the pub" and it's been absorbed into the lingo in my neighborhood. Its just a habit at this point and yes I know how dumb it sounds as an American.

EDIT: now that I think about it, where I live in the city is where the Irish immigrants migrated to in the early 1900s
 
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If you don't hate trump then you have other problems and "woke" isn't it.
Trump's doing a great job cleaning up authoritarian hell-holes like Venezuela and Iran, to the boundless gratitude of the citizens within. Perhaps he'll move onto Romania next, so they'll stop arresting their political opponents on trumped-up charges.

yes, it is a problem. we are talking about a sexual abuser and pedophile, not Santa.
You're confused. It was President Obama who shielded Epstein from federal prosecution for eight full years, despite the DOJ having the goods on him back in 2008. In this he was assisted by the mainstream media, which -- we know thanks to the ABC "hot mic" moment -- killed story after Epstein story, due to Epstein's close association with the Clinton's.

When Trump was elected, he forced the DOJ to reopen the case, and put Epstein behind bars.
 
yes, it is a problem. we are talking about a sexual abuser and pedophile, not Santa.

accepting this as if it is normal is just ... it says so much about you and maga.
Yes, you are talking about that all the time, but talking doesn't make it true. There isn't even a spec of evidence suggesting any wrongdoing of Trump, it's just an attempt for russian collusion 2.0.
 
Trump's doing a great job cleaning up authoritarian hell-holes like Venezuela and Iran, to the boundless gratitude of the citizens within. Perhaps he'll move onto Romania next, so they'll stop arresting their political opponents on trumped-up charges.


You're confused. It was President Obama who shielded Epstein from federal prosecution for eight full years, despite the DOJ having the goods on him back in 2008. In this he was assisted by the mainstream media, which -- we know thanks to the ABC "hot mic" moment -- killed story after Epstein story, due to Epstein's close association with the Clinton's.

When Trump was elected, he forced the DOJ to reopen the case, and put Epstein behind bars.
Ah yes, when in doubt blame Obama. Typical...

"When Trump was elected, he forced the DOJ to reopen the case, and put Epstein behind bars." - statement easily proven to be false that I'm not even going to write anything. it lowers the IQ here if give it too much attention. maga sure love to give trump "wins" for things he didn't do.

In the end all you are doing is defending a pedophile fascist and using disinformation to do it.

2025 - "Trump will save us from wars! This is why I voted for him!" - MAGA
2026 - "Trump starting wars is the right thing! This is why I voted for him!" - MAGA
 
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Ah yes, when in doubt blame Obama. Typical..."When Trump was elected, he forced the DOJ to reopen the case, and put Epstein behind bars." - statement easily proven to be false
Who was President 2009-2017 when the Epstein plea agreement was being honored? Obama.

Who was President in 2018 when the DOJ reopened the case, and, seven months later, indicted and arrested Epstein? Trump.

I note that no new evidence was used in 2018 to indict Epstein. The Obama DOJ had all the evidence it needed ... but refused to use it.

In the end all you are doing is defending a pedophile fascist
You're confused. It was Biden who showered with his own underage daughter until she turned age 14. In her diary, Ashley Biden blamed the "highly inappropriate" (her words) acts in those showers for her life-long psychological problems. When Democrats learned these facts, they responded by asking Old Joe to run again for President.

As for the latter, I suggest you learn history. Fascism has always been a far-Left political doctrine. Mussolini was a socialist writer before founding his party with the "fasci": Italian Leftwing unionists. And Hitler's Party wasn't called National Socialism for nothing: high taxes on the rich, powerful central government, strong labor unions, tight regulation of corporations, bans on firearm ownership, laws against "unfair" profits, nationalization of major industries, restrictions on free speech, expanded access to abortion, free higher education for college students, and slavishly categorizing people by race, not as individuals.
 
Who was President 2009-2017 when the Epstein plea agreement was being honored? Obama.

Who was President in 2018 when the DOJ reopened the case, and, seven months later, indicted and arrested Epstein? Trump.

I note that no new evidence was used in 2018 to indict Epstein. The Obama DOJ had all the evidence it needed ... but refused to use it.


You're confused. It was Biden who showered with his own underage daughter until she turned age 14. In her diary, Ashley Biden blamed the "highly inappropriate" (her words) acts in those showers for her life-long psychological problems. When Democrats learned these facts, they responded by asking Old Joe to run again for President.

As for the latter, I suggest you learn history. Fascism has always been a far-Left political doctrine. Mussolini was a socialist writer before founding his party with the "fasci": Italian Leftwing unionists. And Hitler's Party wasn't called National Socialism for nothing: high taxes on the rich, powerful central government, strong labor unions, tight regulation of corporations, bans on firearm ownership, laws against "unfair" profits, nationalization of major industries, restrictions on free speech, expanded access to abortion, free higher education for college students, and slavishly categorizing people by race, not as individuals.
Again, blaming Obama just so that people don't point fingers at trump's pedohilia. This is just pathetic to watch.

This shows that some people have no respect for the facts. Obama came into office on January 20, 2009 right in the middle of a global economic crisis. The Epstein deal was drafted in 2007 and signed in 2008, the period in which republicans were in power with Bush as president.

"I note that no new evidence was used in 2018 to indict Epstein." - Yes there was. What the hell are you talking about? The arrest came because of new evidence was found and new victims came out. New evidence was also gather following the arrest which allowed the plea deal to annulled by the prosecutors in New York. Trump did absolutely nothing.

"Fascism has always been a far-Left political doctrine." - fascism is far right. I don't get you at all with this obvious disinformation that I need just 5 seconds to disprove. what do you gain from making these crazy statements dude?

1. Mussolini's rule was a far right fascist coalition. His domestic goal was the eventual establishment of a totalitarian state with himself as supreme leader.
2. Nazism is the far-right totalitarian ideology associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Nazism is a form of fascism and it opposes liberal democracy and the parliamentary system (aka they want a dictatorship - sounds familiar?).
In case you need to learn more about the Nazi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism

Now repeat after me: Fascism is by definition FAR-RIGHT.
Now repeat after me: Trump is a fascist pedophile.

"...do not imagine that the people will forever go with the middle party, the party of compromises; one day it will turn to those who have most consistently foretold the coming ruin and have sought to dissociate themselves from it. And that party is either the Left: and then God help us! for it will lead us to complete destruction—to Bolshevism, or else it is a party of the Right which at the last, when the people is in utter despair, when it has lost all its spirit and has no longer any faith in anything, is determined for its part ruthlessly to seize the reins of power—that is the beginning of resistance.." - Hitler's speech, 1922
 
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The Epstein deal was drafted in 2007 and signed in 2008, the period in which republicans were in power with Bush as president.
Correct; it was signed in the final months of the Bush Presidency. But Bush knew nothing about it, and the 'pressure' exerted to grant the deal was to benefit the Clintons. Acosta was the only federal prosecutor even willing to take the case ... the deeply-Democratic SDNY (where Epstein lived at the time, and the same SDNY that launched a dozen plus anti-Trump cases) refused outright to touch the case.

Obama certainly knew of the case though, and allowed the results to stand for eight entire years. And all that time Epstein remained a Democrat mega-donor, hosting parties in his NYC mansion that raised millions for the DNC.

"Fascism has always been a far-Left political doctrine." - fascism is far right. I don't get you at all with this
Incorrect. The rise of Germany's National Socialism was *cheered* by Leftists in the US and Europe -- it wasn't until their atrocities came to light that the Left began rewriting history to cast fascism as "right wing", despite it sharing nothing in common with conservative political ideology.

The Nazis were Leftists. They stood for high taxes on the wealthy, a high minimum wage and expanded social safety net, strong regulation of corporations, laws against "unfair profits", nationalization of major industries, expanded access to abortion, free higher education for college students, restrictions on gun ownership, and -- most of all -- a slavish desire to categorize people by race, not as individuals. That's Leftism, not conservatism.
 
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Correct; it was signed in the final months of the Bush Presidency. But Bush knew nothing about it, and the 'pressure' exerted to grant the deal was to benefit the Clintons. Acosta was the only federal prosecutor even willing to take the case ... the deeply-Democratic SDNY (where Epstein lived at the time, and the same SDNY that launched a dozen plus anti-Trump cases) refused outright to touch the case.

Obama certainly knew of the case though, and allowed the results to stand for eight entire years. And all that time Epstein remained a Democrat mega-donor, hosting parties in his NYC mansion that raised millions for the DNC.


Incorrect. The rise of Germany's National Socialism was *cheered* by Leftists in the US and Europe -- it wasn't until their atrocities came to light that the Left began rewriting history to cast fascism as "right wing", despite it sharing nothing in common with conservative political ideology.

The Nazis were Leftists. They stood for high taxes on the wealthy, a high minimum wage and expanded social safety net, strong regulation of corporations, laws against "unfair profits", nationalization of major industries, expanded access to abortion, free higher education for college students, restrictions on gun ownership, and -- most of all -- a slavish desire to categorize people by race, not as individuals. That's Leftism, not conservatism.
TL;DR your epstein comment is a nothing burger meant to distract from the fact that trump
is a known sexual abuser and pedophile. Saying that Bush "didn't know" is disingenuous at
best and you know it. It's just you moving the goalpost again and again and again and again and again.

And you still continue with this completely false and insane notion that fascism is a far
left doctrine.

"it wasn't until their atrocities came to light' - Completely false and I've proven it. Mussolini came into power with a far right coalition. It's know historic fact.
"The Nazis were Leftists." - Even Hitler himself told you that he's from the right and here you are telling me that Hitler was wrong. Left-wing parties were outlawed after Hitler came into power in 1933.

Let's break down your disinformation:
1. high taxes on the wealthy and laws against "unfair profits" -> no they didn't. after taking power in 1933, the regime worked closely with industrialists and large businesses. there was zero redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor.

2. a high minimum wage -> completely false. they had no universal minimum wage policy
and independent unions were abolished, which made it harder for workers to get good
paying jobs. it was all state controlled.

3. expanded social safety net -> now this one ... it was pure racism. some policies were implemented for "racially acceptable" Germans (for example aid for vacationing) while other groups had much fewer social safety nets.

4. strong regulation of corporations and nationalization of major industries -> if you are talking about the state controlling corporations then you are partially correct by using
intentional omission of context. this is a direct result of war preparations and war time
policies. the "Four Year Plan" was meant to force corporations to produce for the war.
calling this "left" is just disingenuous and shows you completely misunderstanding what
happened back then.

5. expanded access to abortion -> The Nazi strongly restricted abortion for women the
state considered "Aryan"

6. restrictions on gun ownership -> restrictions were loosened for people who joined the
Nazi movement and were considered "Aryan" and through different Nazi organizations the
restrictions were completely removed. the legal age to buy guns was also lowered. what
you are actually talking about is the disarming of targeted groups like the Jews and political
opponents. (I heard this argument made by maga before as disinformation used to stop gun regulations)

7. free higher education for college students -> a few new scholarship programs aimed at students considered "racially suitable" and politically loyal often tied to service to the state (aka joining the military or becoming a politician). the nazi did not expand access to college and it in fact became harder to get into them. the number of students fell.

In the end, I've proven with facts that all you've written is completely false.
 
TL;DR your epstein comment is a nothing burger meant to distract from the fact that trump
is a known sexual abuser and pedophile. Saying that Bush "didn't know" is disingenuous at
best and you know it. It's just you moving the goalpost again and again and again and again and again.

And you still continue with this completely false and insane notion that fascism is a far
left doctrine.

"it wasn't until their atrocities came to light' - Completely false and I've proven it. Mussolini came into power with a far right coalition. It's know historic fact.
"The Nazis were Leftists." - Even Hitler himself told you that he's from the right and here you are telling me that Hitler was wrong. Left-wing parties were outlawed after Hitler came into power in 1933.

Let's break down your disinformation:
1. high taxes on the wealthy and laws against "unfair profits" -> no they didn't. after taking power in 1933, the regime worked closely with industrialists and large businesses. there was zero redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor.

2. a high minimum wage -> completely false. they had no universal minimum wage policy
and independent unions were abolished, which made it harder for workers to get good
paying jobs. it was all state controlled.

3. expanded social safety net -> now this one ... it was pure racism. some policies were implemented for "racially acceptable" Germans (for example aid for vacationing) while other groups had much fewer social safety nets.

4. strong regulation of corporations and nationalization of major industries -> if you are talking about the state controlling corporations then you are partially correct by using
intentional omission of context. this is a direct result of war preparations and war time
policies. the "Four Year Plan" was meant to force corporations to produce for the war.
calling this "left" is just disingenuous and shows you completely misunderstanding what
happened back then.

5. expanded access to abortion -> The Nazi strongly restricted abortion for women the
state considered "Aryan"

6. restrictions on gun ownership -> restrictions were loosened for people who joined the
Nazi movement and were considered "Aryan" and through different Nazi organizations the
restrictions were completely removed. the legal age to buy guns was also lowered. what
you are actually talking about is the disarming of targeted groups like the Jews and political
opponents. (I heard this argument made by maga before as disinformation used to stop gun regulations)

7. free higher education for college students -> a few new scholarship programs aimed at students considered "racially suitable" and politically loyal often tied to service to the state (aka joining the military or becoming a politician). the nazi did not expand access to college and it in fact became harder to get into them. the number of students fell.

In the end, I've proven with facts that all you've written is completely false.

The only thing I can see you have proven is how much power Trump has over your life. Wow. Both Blues and Reds are corrupt, degenerate, pathetic. Why let Obama or Trump consume every inch of your soul? They are not the firsts to get crazy and won't be the last because we're very likely to get AI governance in the end. The machines could give a squat about human feelings. Have fun arguing with your digital overlords.
 
. Saying that Bush "didn't know" is disingenuous at best
It's truth-- at best and at worst. Obama, however, WAS aware of the Epstein case, and refused to reopen it, effectively shielding Epstein from federal prosecution for eight full years.

Mussolini came into power with a far right coalition. It's know historic fact.
Oops! The "fasci" were Left-wing unionist. Mussolini didn't suddenly and inconceivably shift from far-Left to far-right. His party came to power proposing greater worker and women's rights, shorter work weeks, restrictions on religion (he called it 'anticlericalism'), seizure of "excess profits" of businesses, etc. The only thing even remotely "right wing" was his desire for a strong Italy.

1. high taxes on the wealthy and laws against "unfair profits" -> no they didn't.
Why not learn history?

"Nazism ideologically opposed "unearned income" as "parasitic" or "rent slavery". The Nazis defined "unearned income" as any wealth generated without labor. The focus was on "Common Good before Own Good," aimed at replacing class struggle with a unified community where profit-sharing would replace "rent slavery"...

Let me quote from the Nazi's infamous 25 point program:

11. We demand abolition of unearned (work and labour) incomes. Breaking of rent-slavery.
  • 12 .We demand... the total confiscation of all war profits.
  • 13. We demand the nationalization of all associated industries
  • 14. We demand a division of profits of all heavy industries.
  • 15. We demand an expansion on a large scale of old age welfare.


That isn't conservatism.

2. a high minimum wage -> completely false. they had no universal minimum wage policy
and independent unions were abolished,
The Nazis promoted the powers and rights of labor unions. Once the Nazis gained total power, they replaced all non-Nazi aligned labor unions with their own German Labor Front.

5. expanded access to abortion -> The Nazi strongly restricted abortion for women the
state considered "Aryan"
Compared to the Weimer Republic before them, the Nazis strongly promoted abortion. Under the Weimer Republic, all abortion was illegal and women were sentenced to lengthy terms of penal servitude for engaging in it. The Nazis reduced penalties for Aryan women and effectively promoted abortion for non-Aryans.

6. restrictions on gun ownership -> restrictions were loosened for people who joined the
Nazi movement
Oops again! The Nazis first used gun registration records to confiscate the weapons of their political opponents. Once the Nazis were in total power, they loosened the rules for other Nazis, but banned gun ownership entirely for anyone considered "politically suspect". My statement was correct.
 
The only thing I can see you have proven is how much power Trump has over your life. Wow. Both Blues and Reds are corrupt, degenerate, pathetic. Why let Obama or Trump consume every inch of your soul? They are not the firsts to get crazy and won't be the last because we're very likely to get AI governance in the end. The machines could give a squat about human feelings. Have fun arguing with your digital overlords.
You should care. The moment you stop caring is the moment you lose control of your life completely. Trump doesn't have power over me, I'm Eastern European. Pointing out fact is normal.
 
Trump doesn't have power over me, I'm Eastern European.
You spend a significant portion of your life spreading falsehoods about him. But that's modern-day Romania, which "trumps up" false charges, arrests, and imprisons against any political opponent that doesn't espouse far-Left ideology.
 
It's truth-- at best and at worst. Obama, however, WAS aware of the Epstein case, and refused to reopen it, effectively shielding Epstein from federal prosecution for eight full years.


Oops! The "fasci" were Left-wing unionist. Mussolini didn't suddenly and inconceivably shift from far-Left to far-right. His party came to power proposing greater worker and women's rights, shorter work weeks, restrictions on religion (he called it 'anticlericalism'), seizure of "excess profits" of businesses, etc. The only thing even remotely "right wing" was his desire for a strong Italy.


Why not learn history?

"Nazism ideologically opposed "unearned income" as "parasitic" or "rent slavery". The Nazis defined "unearned income" as any wealth generated without labor. The focus was on "Common Good before Own Good," aimed at replacing class struggle with a unified community where profit-sharing would replace "rent slavery"...

Let me quote from the Nazi's infamous 25 point program:

11. We demand abolition of unearned (work and labour) incomes. Breaking of rent-slavery.
  • 12 .We demand... the total confiscation of all war profits.
  • 13. We demand the nationalization of all associated industries
  • 14. We demand a division of profits of all heavy industries.
  • 15. We demand an expansion on a large scale of old age welfare.


That isn't conservatism.


The Nazis promoted the powers and rights of labor unions. Once the Nazis gained total power, they replaced all non-Nazi aligned labor unions with their own German Labor Front.


Compared to the Weimer Republic before them, the Nazis strongly promoted abortion. Under the Weimer Republic, all abortion was illegal and women were sentenced to lengthy terms of penal servitude for engaging in it. The Nazis reduced penalties for Aryan women and effectively promoted abortion for non-Aryans.


Oops again! The Nazis first used gun registration records to confiscate the weapons of their political opponents. Once the Nazis were in total power, they loosened the rules for other Nazis, but banned gun ownership entirely for anyone considered "politically suspect". My statement was correct.
Again with the deflection. You know it was done under Bush and that trump is in the files and yet here you are, blaming Obama. It's just sad to see people defend pedophiles this hard.

And please for the love of God stop quoting Nazi propaganda and give me facts from what they did. Is that hard? Tell me what they did, not what they said they'll do.

"The Nazis promoted the powers and rights of labor unions." - and when they came into power they destroyed them all. why are you even pretending that you don't know historical facts? Labor unions were destroyed by the Nazi.

"Nazis systematically destroyed free labor unions in Germany shortly after taking power, starting on May 2, 1933. Stormtroopers (SA) raided union offices, arrested and tortured leaders, confiscated assets, and replaced them with the state-controlled German Labour Front (DAF), which abolished strikes and collective bargaining. "

As for this: "Nazism ideologically opposed "unearned income" as "parasitic" or "rent slavery"

Let me finish that quote you cut in half:

Nazism ideologically opposed "unearned income" (Arbeits- und müheloses Einkommen) as a core tenet, aimed at separating "productive" (Aryan) capital from "parasitic" (Jewish) finance capital. This concept, featured in the 1920 25-Point Program, was used to justify the "breaking of rent-slavery" and the confiscation of war profits.

I can deal with you not wanting to accept what trump is, but when you start defending the Nazi and try to make them look like they did good things and even parrot their propaganda then we have a bigger problem.
 
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