Getting blacklisted by the Pentagon turns out to be excellent marketing. An analysis of billions of anonymized credit card transactions by consumer analytics firm Indagari, conducted for TechCrunch, shows that Anthropic's Claude has been gaining paid subscribers at record pace throughout 2026. Anthropic confirmed that paid subscriptions have more than doubled this year.

The data tells a clear story about what drove the surge. New subscriber signups spiked dramatically between late January, when media outlets first reported the deepening Anthropic-DOD feud, and February 26, when CEO Dario Amodei issued his public refusal to let the military use Claude for lethal operations or mass surveillance. Consumers rewarded Anthropic for picking a fight with the government.

The Super Bowl Factor

Anthropic's Super Bowl ads, which openly mocked ChatGPT's decision to show ads to users, pushed the Claude app into the top 10 on both app stores. The spots were sharp, funny, and clearly got under Sam Altman's skin. Combined with the DOD drama, they created a perfect storm of consumer awareness that no amount of paid marketing could have manufactured.

Most new subscribers are signing up at the $20/month Pro tier rather than the $100 or $200 tiers. The volume play is working. Previous users also returned in record numbers during February, suggesting that the publicity did not just attract the curious but re-engaged people who had tried Claude and drifted away.

Claude Code Is the Killer App

Beyond the drama, the product lineup is doing heavy lifting. Claude Code and Claude Cowork, both released in January, have become genuine subscription drivers. The developer community has adopted Claude Code with an enthusiasm that Anthropic clearly did not anticipate. The tool's popularity is so significant that its source code leaked today via an npm source map (yes, really), and the architecture impressed even the people who were supposed to be outraged.

What This Means for the AI Race

Anthropic has found something that OpenAI has been struggling to replicate: a brand identity that consumers actually care about. OpenAI is the default. Anthropic is the choice. When people actively switch from a product they already use to a competitor, that competitor has built something beyond features. It has built a narrative.

The "we will never show ads" promise, the Pentagon standoff, the refusal to compromise on safety principles. Whether you believe Anthropic's motives are genuine or calculated, the market does not care. Consumers are voting with their credit cards, and Claude is winning.

With annualized revenue now at $19 billion and consumer growth accelerating, Anthropic is no longer the scrappy underdog. It is a company that figured out how to turn a government fight into a growth engine. OpenAI should be paying very close attention.