Anthropic is facing a class action lawsuit alleging the AI company misled customers about the amount of usage included with its premium Claude Max subscription plans.
According to Vaca Daffan LLP Founding Partner Kati Daffan, who is representing Kahn, the case is rooted in established consumer protection laws that prohibit companies from misleading users about the products and services they sell.
"This is a really good type of case for a class action, because the law is very clear that companies have to be honest about their advertising and marketing,” Daffan told Decrypt. “If they're not, they can be held liable, need to change their ways, and refund money to people. Civil actions like this are brought every day against companies that misrepresent something about their product or service."
The complaint alleges Anthropic did not clearly explain how usage was measured, making it difficult for subscribers to determine whether they were receiving the amount of access promised under the Max plans.
According to Daffan, the lack of transparency may help explain why no similar lawsuits had previously been filed, arguing that consumers were left without the information needed to verify whether they were receiving the advertised level of service.
"It's really not easy for a normal consumer to know if they're getting the amount they were promised, or if they're not, because that information simply isn't provided,” she said. “So you can see a lot of people expressing on Reddit and other boards that they feel they might not have received what they were promised, but it took a lot of connecting the dots and work to piece together what was actually going on here."
The lawsuit seeks damages, restitution, injunctive and declaratory relief, attorneys' fees, and costs, and asks the court to certify a class action on behalf of all U.S. residents who purchased or upgraded to a Claude Max 5x or Max 20x subscription through Claude.com or the Claude desktop app between April 9, 2025, and the present.
Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Decrypt.
