'No ethics at all': the 'cancel ChatGPT' trend is growing after OpenAI signs a deal with the US military

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'No ethics at all': the 'cancel ChatGPT' trend is growing after OpenAI signs a deal with the US military News By David Nield published 1 March 2026

AI meets principles

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OpenAI and Sam Altman are facing flack over a new deal with the US Department of War (Image credit: Getty Images/ Justin Sullivan)

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• OpenAI has signed a deal with the US Department of War
• A significant number of ChatGPT users are quitting the app as a result
• Anthropic had previously raised security and safety concerns

After Claude developer Anthropic walked away from a deal with the US Department of War over safety and security concerns, OpenAI has decided to sign an agreement with the military – and ChatGPT users are far from happy about it.

As reported by Windows Central, a growing number of people are canceling their ChatGPT subscriptions and switching to other AI chatbots instead, including Claude. A quick browse of social media or Reddit is enough to see that there's a growing backlash to the move.

Some Redditors are posting guides to extracting yourself and your data from ChatGPT, while others are accusing OpenAI of having "no ethics at all" and "selling their soul" by agreeing to allow their AI models to be used by the US military complex.

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• 'We believe the people responsible for defending the country should have access to the best tools available': OpenAI is giving the US military access to ChatGPT
• QuitGPT challenges OpenAI with a subscription revolt
• Trump just banned Anthropic from government use — this is how we got here

Meanwhile, tech investor Aidan Gold took to X to point out that OpenAI had backed Anthropic's safety stance right before signing a deal with the DoW. The US government has also announced its intention to now remove Claude from all its departments.

Murky AI ethics

Let me get this straight:Anthropic refused to work with DoW unless they could promise their tech wasn't used for surveillance or killing. DoW said that they need full capabilities. Anthropic declined to give full access. OpenAI stood by Anthropic for ensuring AI safety.…February 28, 2026

The ethics of AI have long been murky: most of the popular chatbots of today have been trained on mountains of stolen, copyrighted work, bring with them the threat of triggering mass redundancies, and use up vast amounts of energy.

However, earlier this week Anthropic did draw a line when it came to allowing its AI tech to be used for "mass surveillance" and "fully autonomous weapons". Anthropic wanted safeguards in place in these areas, and the DoW wasn't prepared to agree to them.

Enter OpenAI: the company says its deal with the US military "has more guardrails" than the one Anthropic rejected, including around mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons, with "red lines" that OpenAI plans to enforce going forward.

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However, ChatGPT users aren't convinced – especially when it comes to the "all lawful purposes" language used in the deal. This is a debate that's going to run and run, but in the meantime, Claude has hit top spot in the Apple App Store.

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TOPICS AI David NieldSocial Links NavigationFreelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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