When Prime Minister Narendra Modi prompted speakers at the event to join hands and raise them in a show of unity, all executives on stage obliged, except OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei, who held their hands conspicuously apart.

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At India's AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei created an awkward moment when they refused to join hands during a show of solidarity prompted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — while all other executives on stage complied. The tension reflects their intensifying rivalry, which recently flared when Anthropic ran Super Bowl ads mocking OpenAI's plan to add ads to ChatGPT, prompting Altman to publicly call Anthropic 'dishonest' and 'authoritarian.' Both companies announced significant India expansions at the summit, including new offices, partnerships with TCS and Infosys, and education initiatives.

Altman and Amodei share a moment of awkwardness at India’s big AI summit

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