An intended show of unity at India’s flagship AI event turned slightly uncomfortable when two of the industry’s most prominent leaders declined to fully join in a symbolic gesture.
At the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited executives on stage to join hands and raise them in solidarity for global technological progress. While other leaders complied, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic notably kept their hands apart, creating an awkward visual moment.
Rivalry In The AI Race
Altman and Amodei lead two of the most influential laboratories in the global AI race, and their rivalry has grown increasingly public in recent months.
Tensions escalated after OpenAI announced plans to introduce advertising into ChatGPT. In response, Anthropic aired ads during the Super Bowl promoting its chatbot, Claude, emphasizing that it would never introduce advertisements to its platform.
Altman responded sharply, describing Anthropic’s claims as “dishonest” and “authoritarian.” He added that OpenAI would not implement ads in the way they were portrayed, arguing that users would reject such an approach.
India’s Growing AI Push
Despite the tension, both executives were in India to expand their companies’ presence in one of the world’s fastest growing AI markets.
OpenAI announced it is opening two new offices in India, forming a partnership with IT services giant Tata Consultancy Services, and deploying AI tools aimed at higher education institutions.
Anthropic has also established an office in India and partnered with Infosys to support both internal and external deployment of its AI systems.
Read also: Sam Altman Teases OpenAI’s Simple, Screenless AI Device
The summit featured a wave of AI related investments, product launches, and enterprise partnerships, underscoring India’s ambition to become a global hub for artificial intelligence innovation.
While the brief moment on stage highlighted the competitive tension between the two AI leaders, it also reflected the broader stakes of the global AI race, where collaboration and rivalry increasingly coexist.
