Altman and Amodei Skip Unity Gesture at India AI Summit Amid Tense Rivalry

At the AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, a symbolic moment of unity among global AI leaders took an unexpected turn when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei declined to join hands during a group photo with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other industry executives. The decision, though seemingly minor, has become a focal point in the broader narrative of competing visions for artificial intelligence’s future — and has reignited scrutiny over the fractured relationship between two pioneers who once worked side by side at OpenAI.

According to India Today, the moment was captured by multiple photographers and quickly went viral across social media, with commentators interpreting the gesture — or lack thereof — as a visual metaphor for the philosophical divide between the two companies. While Altman’s OpenAI has pursued rapid commercialization, including partnerships with Microsoft and the launch of GPT-4 and ChatGPT, Amodei’s Anthropic has positioned itself as a cautious, safety-first alternative, emphasizing constitutional AI and rigorous alignment research.

Their professional divergence dates back to 2021, when Amodei, then a senior research leader at OpenAI, departed alongside other key researchers to found Anthropic. Sources close to the split indicate that disagreements centered on governance structures, the pace of product deployment, and the prioritization of safety protocols over market expansion. Amodei has since publicly criticized OpenAI’s shift toward a capped-profit model under Microsoft’s influence, warning that commercial pressures could compromise long-term AI safety.

At the summit, both CEOs participated fully in panel discussions and technical sessions, but their physical distance during the photo op spoke volumes. MSNBC noted that while other executives, including leaders from Google DeepMind and Meta AI, readily joined hands in a show of solidarity, Altman and Amodei stood side by side but with arms at their sides — a deliberate, unspoken statement. Neither CEO commented publicly on the incident, but insiders suggest their non-compliance was intentional, not accidental.

The incident has drawn comparisons to the early days of Silicon Valley rivalries, where ideological differences between tech titans often manifested in symbolic acts. In this case, the refusal to hold hands is less about personal animosity and more about institutional identity. OpenAI, now a de facto standard-bearer for generative AI, represents speed, scale, and market dominance. Anthropic, by contrast, champions transparency, ethical oversight, and regulatory engagement — even if it means slower growth.

As governments worldwide scramble to regulate AI, the Altman-Amodei dynamic has become emblematic of a larger tension: Should innovation be driven by market forces or by precautionary principles? The AI summit in India, designed to foster global cooperation, inadvertently spotlighted a fracture that may define the next decade of AI development.

Observers note that while both companies claim to share a commitment to safe AI, their divergent paths suggest fundamentally different interpretations of what safety means — and who gets to decide. With regulatory frameworks still evolving, the world is watching not just what these companies build, but how they choose to stand — or not stand — together.