A class action lawsuit filed against Anthropic alleges that the company misled power users over the limits of its Max subscription tier. The lawsuit, brought by attorneys Monica Vaca and Kati Daffan, claims that Anthropic's marketing materials deceptively advertised the usage limits of the Max plan, which is an upgrade to the $20/month Pro plan.
According to the lawsuit, Anthropic's Max plan has two pricing options: $100 per month for "5x" the usage limits of Pro or $200 per month for "20x". However, the lawsuit alleges that these numbers are misleadingly couched in fine print, and that the actual usage limits are much lower than advertised. The complaint claims that the usage limits are only promised for five-hour chunks of time, subject to a weekly limit, which adds up to a much smaller total increase in usage capacity.
Vaca, one of the attorneys behind the lawsuit, said that the issue is complex and requires customers to "dive deep" into the fine print to understand the actual usage limits. She claims that this is unfair to customers, who are often surprised to find that they are not getting the usage they expected after upgrading to the Max plan.
The Alleged Deception
The lawsuit alleges that Anthropic's marketing materials, including graphics and website copy, misled customers into believing they would get more usage out of the Max plan than they actually did. The complaint claims that the company's use of fine print and complex language made it difficult for customers to understand the actual usage limits, and that the company should have been more transparent in its marketing materials.
Anthropic has argued that it did not omit the session limits from its marketing materials, and that customers could have found the information by clicking on hyperlinks available in the purchase process. However, Vaca disagrees, saying that it is not easy for customers to understand the terms and that they should not have to rely on fine print to get an accurate understanding of what they are buying.
The lawsuit is a rare attempt to legally penalize AI companies for a widely held point of frustration: the industry's growing money squeeze. As pressures to turn a profit increase, AI customers have frequently complained that top labs are passing on their steep operating costs. The lawsuit against Anthropic is seen as a test case for the industry, and could have implications for how AI companies market their products and services.
This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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