An online campaign urging users to quit OpenAI's ChatGPT is gathering momentum after a high-profile standoff between AI company Anthropic and the US Department of Defence.

Known as “QuitGPT”, the movement claims that more than 1.5 million people have taken action, either by cancelling subscriptions, sharing boycott messages on social media, or signing up via quitgpt.org.

The surge follows reports that Sam Altman's OpenAI struck a deal to deploy its models within classified US military networks.

What triggered the backlash?

Last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said he "cannot in good conscience accede to the Pentagon's request" for unrestricted access to the company’s AI systems.

"In a narrow set of cases, we believe AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values," Amodei wrote. "Some uses are also simply outside the bounds of what today's technology can safely and reliably do."

Anthropic - which makes the chatbot Claude - is the last major AI firm yet to supply its technology to a new US military internal network.

The company reportedly faced a deadline from the Department of Defence to loosen ethical guardrails or risk losing a $200 million (€167 million) contract awarded last July to "prototype frontier AI capabilities that advance US national security".

Hours after negotiations between Anthropic and the US government broke down, Altman announced that OpenAIhad reached its own agreement with the Pentagon.

Posting on X on 28 February, Altman said his company would "deploy our models in their classified network." He continued, "In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome."

The announcement came shortly after US President Donald Trump said he would direct federal agencies to "IMMEDIATELY CEASE" use of Anthropic’s technology.

What does QuitGPT say?

The boycott campaign accuses OpenAI of putting profit before public safety.

In a statement published on its website, QuitGPT says: "On February 27, ChatGPT competitor Anthropic refused to give the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI for mass surveillance of Americans or producing AI weapons that kill without human oversight."

The statement continues: "Within hours, ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman swooped in and accepted the Pentagon's corrupt deal, putting us all at risk of lethal AI for the sake of his company's profits. OpenAI agreed to let the Pentagon use its tech for "any lawful purpose," including killer robots and mass surveillance."

QuitGPT argues that many users wrongly believe ChatGPT is the only viable AI assistant and is urging people to switch platforms. It recommends what it says are higher-privacy and open-source alternatives such as Confer, Alpine and Lumo, as well as corporate rivals including Gemini from Google and Claude from Anthropic.

The campaign also strongly advises against using Grok, available on Elon Musk's X platform. "People think ChatGPT is the only chatbot in the game,” the website states. “It’s time to change that.”

The organisation has also planned an in-person protest at the OpenAI HQ in San Francisco on 3 March.

Euronews has contacted QuitGPT and OpenAI for comment and will update this article when statements are received.