Protesters gather with banners and placards outside Google Deepmind’s offices in a protest organized by PauseAI UK and other organizations involved in managing the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems, in London, February 28, 2026 (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP, Getty Images)
Justin Tallis | AFP | Getty Images
Public sentiment toward the technology has cooled considerably from its early euphoria, with university graduates jeering at the mention of artificial intelligence in their commencement speeches, and the Pope and tech giant Antropic warning of the risks of unmitigated AI development.
But despite growing public outcry, global AI usage has soared to an all-time high. OpenAI’s ChatGPT reached 1 billion monthly app users (MAUs) in May, according to recent estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. Other AI apps, including Anthropic’s Claude, have seen triple-digit user growth rates year over year, the data company said.
ChatGPT, which reached 1 billion MAU in about three and a half years since its launch in November 2022, became the fastest app ever to reach this milestone, surpassing the record set by Google Maps, which took about five years from launch to reach the same amount of usage, Sensor Tower said.
OpenAI did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment, but in February it claimed that ChatGPT had more than 900 million weekly active users across its web and mobile platforms, with more than six times the number of monthly web visits and mobile sessions of the next largest AI platform.
According to Sensor Tower, market-leading OpenAI’s large-scale language models have fallen behind products from competitors such as Google’s Gemini, ByteDance’s Doubao and its international version Dola, and even rival developer Anthropic’s Claude.
But while ChatGPT has a significant lead in monthly users, rival models are quickly catching up. Monthly usage for Claude and Meta AI grew 640% and 973% year over year, respectively, compared to 62% for ChatGPT, according to Sensor Tower estimates.
Abe Yousef, senior insights analyst at Sensor Tower, told CNBC that despite the “first mover advantage” of ChatGPT’s competitors, usage is growing due to measurable model improvements and more positive market sentiment.
Youssef pointed to a February contract with the U.S. Department of Defense for OpenAI to deploy its models on sensitive Pentagon networks as an example of how public unrest led to an increase in user numbers.
According to data from Sensor Tower, on February 28, the day after OpenAI announced its agreement with the Department of Defense, ChatGPT uninstalls spiked approximately 295% from the previous day.
That same weekend, sentiment against ChatGPT boosted Anthropic as Claude surpassed ChatGPT in U.S. downloads for the first time after refusing to get involved in the Pentagon’s activities.
Both Anthropic and OpenAI have recently begun the process of going public, with Sam Altman’s OpenAI filing an IPO application Monday afternoon, following Anthropic’s filing of an IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission a week earlier.
Emotion-based usage
While user ethical considerations may have driven adoption in cases like Anthropic’s feud with the Pentagon, analysts say the broader trajectory of AI use is unlikely to be derailed by emotion.
“The strong trajectory of AI adoption shows no signs of slowing down,” said Hanno Stegman, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group’s AI and technology team, BCG X.
Stegman’s comments come amid growing concerns about AI. Tech giant Anthropic on Friday called for a pause on global AI development, warning that unmitigated development could quickly spiral out of control.
“How we secure, monitor, and shape the behavior of a system all becomes more important when it can completely build its own successor,” the company said in a blog post.
Anthropic’s statement echoes earlier assertions by Pope Leo in a letter published on May 25, warning of rising inequality and public safety concerns due to the world’s insatiable demand for AI.
Many of these concerns were evident at recent university graduation ceremonies in the United States, where recent graduates across the country jeered at the mention of AI over concerns that it would usurp early career roles, among other ethical and environmental concerns.
Meanwhile, a CNBC survey published in May showed that workers are avoiding the use of AI for moral, environmental and privacy reasons.
“It’s understandable why a generation entering the workforce and facing such major changes would feel anxious. It’s a rational response to a real transition,” Stegman said, adding that ambiguity about the outcome often hurts emotions.
But as AI plays an increasingly central role in daily life, deteriorating public sentiment may have little impact on users overall.
A BCG poll of nearly 12,000 frontline workers released on June 3 found that 74% use AI regularly, an increase of 23 percentage points from a year ago, and more than 40% of regular users reported saving the equivalent of a full day of work each week. Meanwhile, the United Nations estimates that the burgeoning AI market could reach more than $4.8 trillion by 2033.
“Consumers are increasingly using and relying on these platforms, while negative sentiment towards AI…is definitely on the rise,” said Sensor Tower’s Yousef.
