Federal judge rules Anthropic must address allegations that Claude max usage limits are misleading

U.S. federal magistrate judge Alex Tse has ruled that Anthropic must continue to face accusations that its Claude Max subscription usage limits mislead consumers. The ruling, issued by Judge Tse on Friday, dismissed several other claims in the case. Consumers who filed the lawsuit in June this year alleged that the actual usage limits for the Max tiers—$100 and $200—fall significantly short of the advertised multiples when calculated on a weekly basis. Plaintiffs Karl Kahn and Solomon Smith calculated that the $200 tier offers only six times the Pro tier's weekly allowance, while the $100 tier provides just 3.5 times the Pro tier's limit. While Anthropic argued that the advertised multiples refer to single usage cycles, not weekly totals, Judge Tse rejected this defense. The judge noted that the explanation of single-cycle limits is buried deep within the claude.com sales page. Given that customers pay monthly, Tse determined that the promised usage should reasonably be interpreted on a monthly basis, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed with claims of deceptive misrepresentation and breach of contract.