Social Media Buzzes Over Awkward Stage Interaction between AI CEOs and PM Modi

The India AI Summit commenced in Bharat Mandapam with a grand inaugural ceremony.

However, something went awkwardly at the India AI Summit stage this morning. The CEOs of

rival AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic refused to hold hands together in order to capture a group

photograph. The awkwardness was caught on camera and speaks about the AI industry

tensions. It has become a subject of jokes on social media.

Here’s what actually happened at the AI summit

After the important address at the India AI Impact Summit, some of the VIP tech leaders got

onstage for a group photograph with the PM. The group consisted of Google CEO Sundar

Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Meta Chief AI Officer

Alexandr Wang, among others.

As PM Modi looked on, the two competitors were standing next to each other. Both appear quick

and uncomfortable. After Modi’s request, they seemed unwilling to join hands. In the end, the

hands that should show the sign of unity raise their fists. This moment shows the AI Cold War

moment.

The rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic

Now, OpenAI and Anthropic are counted among the most identifiable names in artificial

intelligence. However, their approach to technology is different. OpenAI is popular for moving

quickly and creating AI tools like ChatGPT easily available to the public. On the other hand,

Anthropic claims to place stronger emphasis on safety and careful behaviour with the ‘Claude

chatbot’.

In an interview in 2023, Amodei had declared that he quit OpenAI due to directional differences.

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,”