Anthropic faces class-action lawsuit over Claude Max plans
Judge allows lawsuit claiming AI chatbot's premium plan marketing misled customers on usage limits.
Pages from the Anthropic website and the company's logos are displayed on a computer screen in New York on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026 (AP Photo/Patrick Sison)
A federal judge has ruled that a proposed class-action lawsuit against Anthropic may proceed, finding that customers could reasonably interpret the company's marketing of its Claude Max subscription tiers as offering monthly usage increases. The litigation centers on claims that the company misled users regarding the scope of its premium plans.
The lawsuit, which includes plaintiffs Karl Kahn, Isabelo Pascual, Moneal Patel, and Lauren Morgan, alleges that the $100-per-month Max 5x and $200-per-month Max 20x plans were marketed with misleading usage multipliers. While the company advertised these tiers as providing five or 20 times the usage of its standard $20-per-month Pro plan, the complaint argues that these multipliers are restricted by separate, less-transparent weekly caps.
According to the plaintiffs, these weekly limits significantly reduce the actual value of the premium subscriptions. Estimates cited in the complaint suggest that the effective usage increase for the Max 5x plan is closer to 3.5x, while the Max 20x plan provides approximately 6 to 8 times the usage of the Pro tier. The legal action includes claims under California consumer-protection and false-advertising laws, as well as allegations of negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract.
Anthropic has maintained that its documentation clarifies that the multipliers apply per rolling five-hour session and that weekly limits remain in effect. The case, which was consolidated following an initial filing in June 2026, will now move toward further proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. No class has been certified, and the allegations against the company remain unproven in court.