After the Pentagon's notable choice to exclude Claude and opt for ChatGPT instead, numerous individuals have shifted from OpenAI's leading AI service to Anthropic's ethically focused alternative, resulting in a sharp increase in Claude's active user base over the past few weeks.
Due to this unexpected rise in demand, Anthropic has decided to impose limits on usage during busy periods, as its infrastructure struggles to handle the influx.
Thariq Shihipar, part of Anthropic's technical staff, shared the update on social media: “To manage growing demand for Claude we’re adjusting our 5 hour session limits for free/Pro/Max subs during peak hours. Your weekly limits remain unchanged. During weekdays between 5am–11am PT / 1pm–7pm GMT, you’ll move through your 5-hour session limits faster than before.”
Speaking to reporters at Infoworld, Pareekh Jain from Pareekh Consulting added: “The impact is largely limited to individual users, prosumers, and small teams using Claude via subscription plans, where usage caps and throttling are expected to manage shared compute and costs.”
Although Claude remains a preferred AI tool for many, the new peak-time constraints could prove frustrating for users. Those who have recently adopted Claude and are encountering frequent limits may benefit from guidance on adhering to usage boundaries.
This piece first appeared in our affiliated outlet M3 and has been adapted from its original Swedish version.