Claude Paying Users Up 75 Percent Since January but Anthropic Withdraws Two Models After U.S. Ban

TechCrunch reported that Anthropic’s Claude recorded month-by-month growth in paying consumers through May 2026. Credit-card data showed revenue up 75 percent since January while education-platform searches for Claude outpaced ChatGPT among self-directed users. The company pulled two models from the market after a U.S. government ban earlier this month.

Jun 25, 1:38 PM(18 days ago)·1m read1 source

Claude Paying Users Up 75 Percent Since January but Anthropic Withdraws Two Models After U.S. Ban

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Credit-card transaction data analyzed by Indagari showed Claude’s paying consumers and revenue rising month by month through May 10, 2026, reaching levels about 75 percent higher than in January among the sampled group of roughly 28 million U.S. consumers.

The same data indicated a consumer growth spike in March after Anthropic refused to allow its models to be used by the Trump administration for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons.

Gains continued afterward. ” Demand for Claude courses among self-directed consumers outpaced demand for ChatGPT courses by three to one, and overall demand for Claude courses rose 18 times in the last 30 days. Sensor Tower data confirmed Claude grew across platforms in 2026 but remained behind ChatGPT.

Indagari data likewise showed ChatGPT retaining more paying users overall. Earlier this month the U.S. government banned Anthropic from allowing its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models to be used by non-Americans.

Anthropic responded by withdrawing both models from the market. The company declined to comment on the reported data and policy developments. Both OpenAI and Anthropic are approaching public-company status.