Let me state the conclusion upfront: Claude is quietly overtaking ChatGPT. Not on superficial metrics like API call volume, but on what actually matters — enterprise adoption, new revenue, and major client acquisitions.

But Anthropic's moves go beyond just winning customers. In the past few weeks, they've made several big moves: acquiring API tooling company Stainless, and sending a co-founder to the Vatican to co-present an AI encyclical alongside Pope Leo XIV.

Surpassing ChatGPT in revenue

Multiple indicators show Claude has pulled ahead of ChatGPT in enterprise customer new revenue and commercial adoption rates.

The reasons aren't hard to figure out:

  • Claude's API is more stable — compared to GPT series, Claude's model behavior changes less between versions. Enterprises trust that
  • Security wins over compliance teams — Anthropic's "constitutional AI" approach has become a selling point in regulated industries: finance, healthcare, legal
  • Transparent pricing — compared to OpenAI's increasingly complex pricing tiers, Claude's billing model is more straightforward

This isn't to say ChatGPT is failing. OpenAI still dominates the consumer market. GPT-5.5's consumer usage is still overwhelming. But on the question of "who's actually making money from companies," the balance is shifting.

Acquiring Stainless

This news scored 374 upvotes on HN. Stainless builds API tooling — SDK generation, documentation, the boring infrastructure stuff that makes enterprise adoption painless.

Anthropic's logic is clear: more enterprise customers means more diverse API integration needs. Stainless lets Anthropic do "build once, deploy everywhere" — whatever language you use, it auto-generates the SDK.

The acquisition signals one thing: Anthropic is serious about enterprise. Not a demo company — they want to sell to big organizations.

Partnership with the Vatican

This one is unusual. Anthropic's co-founder will co-present alongside Pope Leo XIV as he issues his first encyclical — themed around AI ethics and human dignity.

There's almost no precedent for this in tech. Anthropic's long-running investment in AI safety and ethics has earned it a seat at the table in philosophical and religious conversations about AI.

Some find it strange — a tech company working with the Vatican? But I see it as a brilliant brand strategy. While other AI companies fight price wars and chase multi-modal benchmarks, Anthropic is building the "responsible AI" narrative. The influence this buys with policymakers, academics, and public opinion is worth more than any ad campaign.

The Mythos model incident

Not everything is smooth sailing. News recently broke that Anthropic's internal "Mythos" model was subject to unauthorized access, and an investigation is underway.

This tells us two things: one, Anthropic indeed has stronger models locked away unreleased. Two, even the most security-conscious AI company isn't invulnerable.

My take

Anthropic and OpenAI are taking increasingly divergent paths. OpenAI is scaling users aggressively — platform play, ecosystem building. Anthropic is doing precision farming — carefully choosing customers, partners, and narratives.

Neither approach is wrong. But on the question of "who's more likely to become AI infrastructure," Anthropic's path — enterprise-grade, safe, ethics-first — is proving effective in the enterprise market at least.

Has Claude surpassed ChatGPT? In revenue, the answer is already yes. In brand recognition, there's still a long way to go. But the direction is clear.