Anthropic’s Claude sees ‘elevated errors’ as it tops Apple’s free apps

Anthropic’s Claude artificial intelligence models had “elevated errors” on Monday, as the app held its spot as the most popular free app on Apple‘s App Store.

Claude’s status website showed “degraded performance” on Claude Opus 4.6, its latest model released last month.

In an update at 10:49 a.m. ET, the site stated that the Opus 4.6 issue was identified and a fix was in the works.

An update at 10:47 a.m. ET on the site said that issues on claude.ai, console and claude code had been resolved.

CNBC has reached out to Anthropic for additional comment.

The AI chat app surged in popularity after fallout with the Defense Department over restrictions for the government agency’s use of Anthropic’s technology.

Anthropic signed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon in July. Tensions arose after Anthropic asked the government to ensure that its AI models would not be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance of Americans.

The Pentagon pushed back, demanding that the military be allowed to use the platform for any and all purposes that are deemed lawful.

On Friday, President Donald Trump ordered every U.S. government agency to “immediately cease” using Anthropic’s technology. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on X shortly after that the Pentagon would be labeling the company a “supply-chain risk to national security.”

AI rival OpenAI reached a deal with the Department of Defense hours after the government severed its Anthropic ties.