OpenAI and Anthropic’s rivalry on display as CEOs don’t hold hands at India AI summit

OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei had an awkward moment on Thursday as they chose not to hold hands during a group photo of political and tech leaders.

They were on stage at the India AI Impact Summit, alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, among others. Both had been keynote speakers.

Modi had lifted Altman and Pichai’s hands before an applauding crowd, with others following suit. However, Altman and Amodei, who were next to each other, raised their fists instead of holding hands with one another.

It comes as competition intensifies between ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Claude maker Anthropic, with both vying for their models to become the default choice for consumers globally.

The companies have also recently traded shots over the potential use of adverts in AI models.

The image of Altman and Amodei opting out of holding hands quickly made the rounds on social media.

Siddharth Bhatia, cofounder of AI startup Puch AI, posted on X: “When AGI? The day Dario and Sam hold hands.”

Justine Moore, an investing partner at Andreesen Horowitz, shared a picture with the words: “When you’re forced to do a group project with your opp.”

Last month, Anthropic released Super Bowl commercials that poked fun at OpenAI’s plan to start testing ads for free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers in the U.S. 

Altman called the ads “clearly dishonest,” saying: “I guess it’s on brand for Anthropic doublespeak to use a deceptive ad to critique theoretical deceptive ads that aren’t real, but a Super Bowl ad is not where I would expect it.”

Anthropic’s chief customer officer, Paul Smith, later told CNBC that it was focused on growing its business rather than making “flashy headlines,” in a veiled swipe at OpenAI.

Speaking at the summit after the photo, Altman told CNBC: “We still have some work to do to figure out the exact ad format that’s going to work best.”

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI staff and researchers, including Amodei, who left the company after disagreements over its direction. The company has marketed itself as a “safety-first” alternative.

OpenAI and Anthropic have since raised billions of dollars of capital as they’ve competed for users, enterprise customers and market share.

During his speech at the summit on Thursday, Amodei discussed the “serious risks” associated with AI, including the autonomous behavior of AI systems, their potential misuse by individuals and governments, and the potential for economic displacement.

During his speech, Altman argued that the industry’s understanding of AI safety should include “societal resilience,” adding: “We believe no AI lab can deliver a good future on their own.”