Anthropic faces lawsuit over Claude subscription usage claims
A U.S. federal magistrate judge has ruled that Anthropic must defend against allegations that its Claude Max subscription tiers misrepresent usage limits to customers.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex Tse ruled on Friday that a class-action lawsuit against AI firm Anthropic can proceed, rejecting the company's motion to dismiss key claims. Plaintiffs allege that Anthropic misled subscribers regarding the usage capacity of its premium 'Max' plans, which cost between $100 and $200 per month.
According to the complaint, Anthropic marketed its Max plans as offering five to 20 times the usage capacity of its standard Pro tier. However, plaintiffs Karl Kahn and Solomon Smith contend that these claims do not hold up when calculated on a weekly basis, alleging that actual limits for the higher-tier plans fall significantly short of the advertised ratios.
Anthropic argued that the usage multiples referred specifically to usage within a five-hour window, rather than a total monthly limit. The company cited its help documentation as evidence that these terms were disclosed. Judge Tse rejected this defense, noting that the clarification was located behind multiple links on the website and was not sufficiently prominent to override the general expectation that monthly subscriptions imply monthly usage allowances.
The court has now cleared the path for the plaintiffs to pursue claims of negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract. The case highlights ongoing transparency challenges for AI providers as they formalize subscription-based business models.