![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2261854815.jpg\")
Altman and Amodei turn India into the latest front in their high-stakes A.I. rivalry. Photo by Ludovic Marin\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n\t\tAltman and Amodei turn India into the latest front in their high-stakes A.I. rivalry. Photo by Ludovic Marin\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
It was meant to be a simple photo op. To mark a busy day at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week, a lineup of business and political leaders joined India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a> onstage, raising their clasped hands in a show of unity. All but two. Standing side by side, OpenAI<\/a> CEO Sam Altman<\/a> and Anthropic<\/a> CEO Dario Amodei<\/a> chose not to hold each other\u2019s hands. Instead, they extended their fists\u2014a now-viral moment<\/a> that neatly captured their intensifying A.I. rivalry.<\/a> The two executives are battling for consumers, enterprise customers and, increasingly, global influence.<\/a> Their latest battleground: India.<\/p>\n Both Altman and Amodei recently announced a flurry of initiatives in India, racing to win over its 1.4 billion people and fast-growing digital ecosystem. Their companies already have significant footprints there. India accounts for roughly 100 million of OpenAI\u2019s weekly ChatGPT users and is the second-largest market for Anthropic\u2019s Claude tools.<\/p>\n Tensions between Altman and Amodei have been brewing for some time. Amodei previously worked at OpenAI before leaving in 2020 over disagreements about the company\u2019s direction. The following year, he co-founded Anthropic as a more safety-focused alternative alongside several former OpenAI colleagues, including his sister Daniela Amodei<\/a>. Both startups have since become A.I. powerhouses: OpenAI is valued at $500 billion, while Anthropic is valued at $380 billion.<\/p>\n In India, OpenAI has a head start. The company opened an office in New Delhi last August. Anthropic announced plans to expand to the region in October. The company is now betting on the enterprise sector. A newly announced partnership between Anthropic and Infosys will focus on building custom A.I. agents for companies across telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing and software. Anthropic\u2019s offerings, which include its popular Claude coding tool, largely cater to businesses, as opposed to OpenAI\u2019s consumer-focused features.<\/p>\n Anthropic is also opening its first Indian office in Bengaluru and has hired longtime Microsoft<\/a> executive Irina Ghose<\/a> to manage its operations there. Other initiatives unveiled this week include training its models in several of India\u2019s most widely spoken languages and positioning the country as a key partner in evaluating A.I.\u2019s labor-market impact and testing model safety. \u201cIndia is the world\u2019s largest democracy and can be a partner and leader in addressing the global security and economic risks of the technology,\u201d said Amodei at the summit.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s India strategy, by contrast, leans heavily on infrastructure. The ChatGPT-maker today unveiled its \u201cOpenAI for India\u201d initiative, aimed at expanding access to its technology nationwide.\u00a0A central piece is a partnership with Tata Group\u2019s data center business, beginning with 100 megawatts of computing capacity and eventually scaling to one gigawatt.<\/p>\n OpenAI also plans to expand to two additional locations in Mumbai and Bengaluru in 2026, bringing its total number of offices in India to three. In his keynote address at the summit, Altman described the country as \u201cwell positioned to lead in A.I.\u2014not just to build it, but to shape it.\u201d<\/p>\n Altman\u2019s approach aligns closely with other major tech players drawn by India\u2019s government-backed A.I. push. Google<\/a> last year said it would invest $15 billion in an A.I. data center hub in the country. Microsoft followed with plans to commit $17.5 billion to expand its cloud and A.I. infrastructure there. Amazon<\/a> has pledged $35 billion across its Indian operations through 2030.<\/p>\n The rivalry between Altman and Amodei has also spilled into public view. Earlier this month, Anthropic spent millions on a Super Bowl campaign<\/a> poking fun at OpenAI\u2019s decision to test advertisements in ChatGPT. Altman did not take kindly to the jab, calling his competitor \u201cdishonest<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n