Claude Surges: AI Consumer Popularity Skyrockets

Data from credit card transaction analysis company Indagari reveals a significant upward trend in consumer adoption of Anthropic's Claude. Analysis of billions of anonymized U.S. consumer transactions from 2025 through May 10, 2026, shows Claude's paying consumers and revenue growing month-over-month, currently up about 75% since January 2026. This growth continued even after a March spike, which coincided with Claude's refusal to support the U.S. government for mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.

Further evidence of Claude's burgeoning consumer popularity comes from DataCamp, an online AI education platform. Since the start of 2026, searches for 'Claude' have surpassed 'AI' as the most frequent term on their site. While ChatGPT courses remain dominant for corporate training, DataCamp notes that among self-directed consumers, demand for Claude courses has increased 18-fold in the last 30 days, outpacing ChatGPT by a three-to-one ratio.

Despite Claude's impressive gains, ChatGPT still holds a substantial lead in overall consumer popularity. Indagari data suggests ChatGPT continues to have more paying users, though Claude is narrowing the gap in consumer-generated revenue and general awareness. OpenAI and Anthropic are both nearing potential public company status, making insights into their consumer-facing businesses increasingly valuable. The impact of recent government restrictions on Anthropic's cybersecurity models is yet to be fully assessed, but current data indicates continued growth across both consumer and enterprise segments.