NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed leaders from prominent artificial intelligence companies to the India AI Impact Summit held in New Delhi. The summit aimed to foster a commitment towards creating more “inclusive and multilingual” AI solutions globally. The event gathered key figures in the tech industry, but an unexpected and awkward moment between two rival tech leaders, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, stole the spotlight.
During the summit, Prime Minister Modi invited all 13 tech leaders on stage to participate in a symbolic gesture. He clasped hands with Altman, who stood to his left, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who was on his right, encouraging all the leaders to lift their joined hands in unison, akin to theater actors during a curtain call. However, an unusual tension arose as both Altman and Amodei, positioned next to each other, refrained from making hand contact for several seconds. Instead, they eventually raised their fists, marking a moment that quickly became a visual metaphor for the intense competition that characterizes the AI industry, particularly between OpenAI and Anthropic.
Altman later addressed the awkward interaction in an interview with Indian media outlet Moneycontrol, expressing his confusion over the moment. He stated, "I didn’t know what was happening; I was sort of confused." Altman's remarks hinted at a light-hearted interpretation of the exchange, though the absence of cooperation with Amodei piqued interest among observers. Anthropic chose not to comment on the incident.
The backdrop of the interaction is significant, given the professional history between the two AI companies. Dario Amodei, who played a pivotal role at OpenAI, left the organization alongside his sibling Daniela and a group of other employees in 2021 to form Anthropic. Their departure was rooted in a desire to prioritize the safety of advanced artificial intelligence, specifically the creation of artificial general intelligence. Since then, both companies have been striving to develop powerful AI models, with OpenAI launching the widely acclaimed ChatGPT in late 2022, which opened up significant commercial opportunities within the field. Anthropic followed suit in 2023 with its own chatbot, Claude.
The competitive dynamics between OpenAI and Anthropic have been underscored by more than just product releases; public tensions have escalated recently. Earlier this month, during the Super Bowl, Anthropic aired advertisements that poked fun at OpenAI's strategies, especially its foray into digital advertising for free and discounted versions of ChatGPT. While Anthropic has focused its revenue model on marketing Claude to businesses, OpenAI has opted to monetize its free services through advertisements, prompting Altman to denounce Anthropic’s commercials as misleading.
The India AI Impact Summit underscored the broader conversations about the future of AI, with leaders from major tech firms coming together to discuss the potential societal impacts and ethical considerations surrounding artificial intelligence. Amidst the backdrop of collaboration and rivalry, the interactions on stage highlighted the complexities of balancing competition in a rapidly advancing technological landscape.
