A two-second pause, an awkward photo-op and the OpenAI-Anthropic rivalry

New Delhi: A brief on-stage moment between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the India AI Impact Summit has gone viral, with social media reading it as the latest sign of a rivalry that has moved from boardrooms to public optics.

The clip is from a group photograph session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other global tech leaders.

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As several leaders linked hands for the camera, Altman and Amodei hesitated and did not join the chain, instead ending up with raised fists in the air. The pause was enough to set off the internet’s favourite sport: decoding body language.

Altman addressed the moment soon after, saying he was “sort of confused” and “didn’t know what I was supposed to do.”

The remark only added fuel, with many pointing to the two CEOs’ body language as evidence of their hesitation to hold hands.

Amodei previously worked at OpenAI and later left to build Anthropic, which now competes directly with OpenAI for talent, enterprise clients, and mindshare in the race towards increasingly capable systems often described as AGI.

This played out at a summit positioned as India’s bid to be a serious convening ground for global AI governance and investment.

OpenAI has focused on rapid scaling and broad deployment, while Anthropic has built its brand around safety-first positioning and risk mitigation. That contrast is increasingly visible as governments and enterprises demand both capability and guardrails.

On the business front, OpenAI used the summit week to push India as a major infrastructure and deployment story.

OpenAI and Tata Consultancy Services are partnering on large-scale AI rollout and infrastructure plans, signalling India’s growing role in compute and enterprise adoption.

Anthropic, meanwhile, leaned into the policy-and-safety frame. Amodei said India has a “central role” in shaping how AI evolves globally, including managing risks such as misuse, alongside economic opportunity.

Put together, it is easy to see why a two-second pause became a headline. Two rival CEOs. A global-stage photo op. A summit built around AI’s future. And one awkward beat that looked like neither man wanted to perform “unity” on cue.

Is it “better” than an India-Pakistan rivalry? That comparison is over the top.

This is a corporate and technological contest, not a geopolitical conflict. But as far as tech optics go, the message was clear: same stage, same moment, and still no need to pretend.