NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi nudged speakers at the India AI summit to join and raise their hands in a symbolic show of unity, most executives obliged. Two did not: rivals Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic.
The two, who are locked in one of Silicon Valley's fiercest commercial rivalries, were standing side by side as the 13 corporate leaders joined Modi on stage, but they kept their raised fists conspicuously apart.
Altman appeared visibly uncomfortable, looking away as the others, including Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, went along with Modi's nudge and joined hands.
The episode, captured on camera and widely shared across social media, drew amused and pointed reactions online, with many users describing it as emblematic of the "AI cold war" between OpenAI and Anthropic.
"I didn't know what was happening on stage. I wasn't sure what we were supposed to be doing," Altman later told news website Moneycontrol.
OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Bill Gates pulled out of India's summit hours before his scheduled keynote address on Thursday, dealing a blow to a flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a robot row and complaints of traffic chaos.
However, the summit has attracted more than $200 billion in investment pledges.
Anthropic was co-founded in 2021 by Dario Amodei and other former OpenAI employees who broke away over disagreements about safety, commercialisation, and Altman's leadership style.
The rift has since hardened into a full-blown commercial war.
At this year's Super Bowl, Anthropic aired satirical commercials taking a pointed jab at OpenAI's plans to introduce advertising inside ChatGPT.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Kate Mayberry)
