At the India AI Impact Summit, held recently, notable figures from the artificial intelligence sector gathered to discuss the future of AI. Among them were Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. Both leaders made headlines not only for their companies’ advancements but for their apparent lack of solidarity with other executives during the event.
Anthropic has taken another big step towards their expansion with the announcement of opening their first office in India. The tech giant has further revealed a significant partnership with consulting firm Infosys to roll out its new AI tools, both in-house and for consulting clients. Claude, Anthropic’s flagship AI tool, is poised to play a central role in this partnership. Combined, they will enhance operational intelligence and promote innovation in communities large and small.
OpenAI has been quietly doing major moves in India. Relatedly, the company is in the process of opening two new regional offices. It has recently collaborated with Tata to set up a 100MW AI data centre park in the country. In addition, OpenAI recently announced a partnership with IT behemoth TCS to roll out the tools tailored to higher education institutions. This very ambitious plan is to scale up… up to an impressive 1GW of capacity.
That competitive dynamic, never far from the surface between Anthropic and OpenAI, has been highlighted by last week’s marketing placements. During the Super Bowl, Anthropic took a pointed jab at OpenAI through a series of advertisements, emphasizing its stance against introducing ads into Claude. In a clear response, Sam Altman stated,
“We would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them. We are not stupid, and we know our users would reject that.” – Sam Altman
This exchange exemplifies the contrasting values underlying the user experience and monetization strategy of both companies, illustrating the bug vs. feature debate.
Though their interests are ultimately opposed, neither oil CEO showed up at the climate summit in a gesture of solidarity with their corporate counterparts. Their appearance underscores the deepening competition in the race to AI dominance. Companies are eager to be first movers and set the tone for all other future industry leaders.