(from left) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sam Altman, and Dario Amodei, at the AI Summit, in New Delhi on Thursday
It was a fleeting moment of awkwardness that stole the spotlight at the AI Summit on Thursday.
At the dais as a show of boisterous bonhomie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi beamed as he urged a line-up of global technology leaders to raise their clasped hands for a celebratory photograph. The purple backdrop, emblazoned with circuitry motifs and the promise of artificial intelligence (AI), framed what was meant to be a tableau of unity.
But as the cameras clicked, a subtle gap remained.
To the Prime Minister’s right stood Sam Altman of OpenAI. Next to him was Dario Amodei, who leads rival firm Anthropic. Both men raised their arms dutifully for the photo-op. Yet the clasped chain of hands, so enthusiastically initiated by Modi, did not quite bridge the competitive divide between two of the industry’s most closely-watched adversaries. So they both raised hands, but refused to clasp them together, breaking the chain so enthusiastically started by Modi.
The hesitation was brief, almost imperceptible. But in a sector defined by intense rivalry, billion-dollar valuations and a race to dominate the frontier of generative AI, symbolism matters.
Shared history
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Altman and Amodei are not merely executives attending the same conference circuit. Their companies compete at the cutting edge of large language models, enterprise contracts and global influence over how AI systems are built and governed. Anthropic itself was founded by former OpenAI executives, including Amodei, after internal differences over strategy and safety.
Earlier this month, Altman and Amodei took swipes at each other after Anthropic aired a Super Bowl campaign in the US that appeared to mock OpenAI’s move to introduce ads in ChatGPT. Altman, who believes in democratising technology rather than keeping it behind paywalls, did not take the jibe kindly.
“Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people,” Altman shot back on X. “We are glad they do that, and we are doing that too, but we also feel strongly that we need to bring AI to billions of people who can’t pay for subscriptions,” he added.
So, while Modi’s gesture was meant to project solidarity in India’s AI ambitions, the body language on stage reflected a more nuanced reality: collaboration in policy forums, competition in the marketplace.
To be sure, no public words were exchanged and no visible friction followed. The two leaders stood composed, suits immaculate, expressions neutral. The choreography of global tech diplomacy resumed almost immediately.
Yet, in an era where AI summits increasingly double as stages for geopolitical theatre, even small gestures carry weight. The photograph will likely circulate as intended: world leaders and tech titans united under the banner of AI progress. But for those who follow Silicon Valley’s shifting alliances, the split-second reluctance offered a reminder that while governments may call for collective advancement, the race for AI supremacy remains intensely personal.
Published on February 19, 2026