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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempt to create a moment of unity among tech leaders turned into an unexpected display of industry rivalry on Thursday during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Modi invited 13 of the world’s top artificial intelligence executives to join him on stage as part of his commitment to build more “inclusive and multilingual” AI solutions globally. In what was meant to be a symbolic gesture of collaboration, the Prime Minister clasped hands with those closest to him—OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to his left and Google CEO Sundar Pichai to his right—encouraging all participants to raise their joined hands in solidarity.
What happened next quickly went viral on social media platforms. While most executives linked hands as requested, OpenAI’s Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, standing adjacent to each other, visibly avoided hand contact for several awkward seconds before both eventually raised their fists independently.
The moment crystallized the deep competitive tensions between two of AI’s most prominent companies, both based in San Francisco and vying for dominance in the rapidly evolving generative AI landscape.
Altman later downplayed the interaction in a video interview with Indian media outlet Moneycontrol, stating, “I didn’t know what was happening. I was confused, like when [Modi] grabbed my hand and put it up, and I just wasn’t sure what we were supposed to be doing.” Anthropic declined to comment on the incident.
The awkwardness stems from a complicated history between the two companies. Amodei previously worked at OpenAI before departing in 2021 with a group of colleagues, including his sister Daniela Amodei, to found Anthropic. Their new venture publicly committed to prioritizing the safety of artificial general intelligence—superintelligent AI systems that could potentially surpass human capabilities—an area both firms actively pursue.
The competitive landscape intensified after OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022, demonstrating the enormous commercial potential of large language models that could assist with tasks ranging from email composition to coding. Anthropic followed in 2023 with its rival product, Claude.
Their business models reflect fundamentally different approaches to AI commercialization. While Anthropic has focused primarily on selling Claude to enterprise customers, OpenAI has increasingly incorporated advertising into free and lower-tier versions of ChatGPT to generate revenue from its massive consumer user base.
These differences erupted into public view earlier this month when Anthropic aired television commercials during the Super Bowl in the United States, criticizing OpenAI’s advertising strategy. Altman quickly responded on social media, characterizing the ads as dishonest.
The Summit itself represents India’s growing ambitions in the global AI race. With Modi personally hosting the event, the country is positioning itself as a significant player in AI development and regulation. India, with its massive technology workforce and growing digital economy, sees AI as a crucial component of its economic future.
The moment between the rival CEOs, while brief, underscores the intense competition driving the AI industry forward as companies race to develop more advanced systems while navigating complex questions around safety, commercialization, and ethical implementation.
As the global AI ecosystem continues to evolve at breakneck speed, such visible tensions between industry leaders reflect the high stakes in a sector that promises to transform virtually every aspect of business and society in the coming years.
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6 Comments
I’m curious to hear more about the motivations and strategies behind Altman and Amodei’s avoidance of physical contact. Their body language speaks volumes about the industry dynamics at play.
This incident underscores how intense the competition is becoming between AI startups and established tech firms. The lack of unity on display is a bit surprising given the stated goal of the summit.
Interesting to see the competitive dynamics between AI companies play out publicly like this. It highlights the high stakes and tensions in the fast-moving generative AI space.
The awkward hand-holding moment is a telling glimpse into the fierce rivalries among tech giants vying for leadership in the AI industry. Seems like a bit of a PR stumble for Modi’s summit.
It will be interesting to see if this incident has any lasting impact on the relationships and competitive positioning of the companies involved. The AI space is clearly a cutthroat environment.
While the summit was meant to promote collaboration, this visible tension between AI leaders is a reminder of the high-stakes business realities shaping the future of this technology.