Over 2.5 Million Users Boycott ChatGPT. Here's Why

A website where people have pledged to boycott ChatGPT claims that more than 2.5 million have already left the chatbot service after OpenAI signed a contract with the Pentagon. OpenAI, which has more than 900 million users of ChatGPT, signed the deal last week, allowing the Department of Defense to deploy the AI model in its classified network.

The estimate based on website signatures, share counts on social media and credible app usage data, highlighted that people were increasingly becoming disillusioned with ChatGPT.

"We're organising Americans and people around the world to quit ChatGPT," the website highlighted, adding: "We can push OpenAI over the edge. If we make an example of ChatGPT, we can send a clear signal to ICE enablers that their actions will not go unpunished."

According to analysis by Sensor Tower, Claude, the chatbot made by Anthropic, jumped to the top of Apple's App Store charts, rising above ChatGPT. A report in TechCrunch also highlighted that the US app uninstalls of ChatGPT's mobile app jumped 295 per cent day-over-day last Saturday.

ChatGPT has come under scrutiny after it made the deal almost immediately after the Pentagon's existing AI contractor, Anthropic, was dropped. The Dario Amodei-led company claimed that the US government planned on using its AI model for domestic surveillance, which was incompatible with its democratic values.

Also Read | Canadian Man Reveals Why He Decided To Settle In India 8 Years Ago: 'Get This Question A Lot'

'Shouldn't Have Rushed'

After the backlash, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a social media post that the original had been struck too quickly and that the company should not have rushed.

“We shouldn't have rushed to get this out on Friday,” Altman wrote. “The issues are super complex, and demand clear communication. We were genuinely trying to de-escalate things and avoid a much worse outcome, but I think it just looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

The company is now amending its hastily arranged deal, according to a report in The Guardian. The startup said it would explicitly bar its tech from being used for mass surveillance purposes or being deployed by defence department intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA).