An awkward on-stage moment was noticed by almost everyone between Sam Altman and Dario Amodei at the India AI Impact Summit. The video of two AI leaders went viral after they declined to hold hands during a group photo with Narendra Modi. The moment highlighted a deeper rivalry rooted in philosophical differences over AI safety, development pace and governance between the companies – OpenAI and Anthropic.
A viral summit moment sparks curiosity
The event and keynotes started normally, as hoped for, but the tiff was noticed when what began as a routine group photograph at the India AI Impact Summit quickly turned into a viral talking point.
Post the keynote session, Prime Minister Modi posed with all the leading global AI leaders, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, standing immediately next to him. Next to Altman was Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei, followed by others.
While Modi held hands with the leaders standing next to him, observers noticed a little awkward moment when Altman and Amodei did not clasp their hands. Instead, both of them raised their fists individually.
The moment was soon witnessed by a massive following on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) and triggered jokes and speculation. But the tension reflects a much older and deeper difference.
The real rift between OpeAI and Anthropic: Safety versus speed
The visible awkwardness and showcasing of differences between the two companies stemmed from a philosophical split dating back to 2021, when Dario Amodei left OpenAI, where he was working as a vice-president of research.
Amodei departed to co-found Anthropic after witnessing concerns about OpenAI’s strategic direction. In a 2023 interview with Fortune, Amodie explained that simply scaling AI models with more compute was not enough.
He said, “You needed something in addition to just scaling the models up, which is alignment or safety. You don't tell the models what their values are just by pouring more compute into them.”
This statement captures the core difference between the two firms – Anthropic and OpenAI.
OpenAI’s approach towards AI: Rapid deployment
OpenAI is widely known for its fast-paced innovation and public deployment strategy. Its flagship chatbot, ChatGPT, has become one of the fastest-growing consumer applications across the world – further reflecting a philosophy of iterating in public and learning through deployment.
The company has prioritised scaling models and expanded its access to AI tools for businesses, consumers, and developers.
Anthropic’s approach towards AI: Safety-first
Anthropic, which was founded by Amodei and several former OpenAI researchers, has been positioning its company as a safety-focused AI lab. Its chatbot named Claude AI has been built around what the company calls “constitutional AI", which emphasises alignment, guardrails and responsible behaviour.
Anthropic argues that as AI systems become more powerful, alignment research and safety mechanisms must evolve alongside model capabilities – not as an afterthought.
More than just the rivalry between Anthropic and OpenAI
Today, OpenAI and Anthropic are two of the most prominent AI companies worldwide, recognised and used. Both are built on advanced large language models, both attract significant investment, and both are competing for enterprise and government partnerships.
But there are founding philosophies that differentiate them from each other:
- OpenAI focuses on accelerating innovation and deployment
- Anthropic focuses on alignment, governance and long-term safety
The brief hesitation on stage may have lasted only seconds, but it symbolises a larger debate for shaping the future of AI and how fast it is pacing and how safe it is.