An awkward on-stage moment stole attention from discussions on artificial intelligence’s future at the India AI Impact Summit on Thursday, as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei conspicuously avoided holding hands during a group photograph with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other tech leaders.

The incident, captured on video and quickly going viral across social media, highlighted the long-simmering rivalry between the two former colleagues now leading competing AI companies. While most executives linked arms and raised them in a show of unity for the ceremonial photo at Bharat Mandapam, Altman and Amodei — positioned next to each other — raised their arms separately, opting for fists instead of clasped hands, and appeared to avoid eye contact.

The summit, running February 16-20 under India’s IndiaAI Mission, has drawn global attention as a platform for debating AI’s opportunities and risks, with India’s “MANAV” vision emphasizing human-centric development. Thursday’s events included keynotes from industry heavyweights, but the brief photo op became the day’s most talked-about clip.

Prime Minister Modi initiated the gesture, holding hands with Google CEO Sundar Pichai on one side and Altman on the other before raising arms. The chain extended across the stage to include leaders like DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Microsoft Vice Chair Brad Smith and others. Altman and Amodei, standing adjacent, broke the link by not connecting.

Altman later addressed the moment lightly, telling reporters he “was sort of confused and didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing” during the orchestrated pose. No formal comment came from Amodei or Anthropic on the incident, but the optics fueled speculation about deeper tensions.

The two men share a complicated history. Amodei, along with his sister Daniela Amodei and other researchers, left OpenAI in 2020-2021 citing concerns over the company’s shift toward commercialization and away from its original nonprofit mission focused on safe AGI development. They founded Anthropic in 2021 as a direct counterpoint, prioritizing AI safety through approaches like constitutional AI in models such as Claude.

Tensions escalated publicly in recent months. Anthropic reportedly ran attack-style advertisements during the Super Bowl earlier in 2026, subtly critiquing competitors’ approaches to AI risks without naming OpenAI directly. Altman has defended OpenAI’s path, emphasizing rapid innovation balanced with safeguards, while Amodei has positioned Anthropic as more cautious on existential threats.

Both companies compete fiercely for talent, compute resources and market share in the generative AI space. OpenAI’s ChatGPT remains a household name, but Anthropic’s Claude series has gained traction among enterprises valuing interpretability and safety features. The rivalry reflects broader debates in the AI community over speed versus caution in pursuing advanced systems.

The India AI Impact Summit provided a rare in-person convergence of these leaders. Altman arrived emphasizing India’s potential as a “full-stack AI leader” — not just an adopter but a builder of the technology. He highlighted collaborations, including partnerships with Indian firms for AI infrastructure. Amodei, in his keynote, praised India’s role in balancing AI opportunities with risk mitigation, aligning with the summit’s themes.

Other attendees included Meta’s Chief AI Officer (noted in some reports as Alexandr Wang, though typically associated with Scale AI; clarifications pointed to Meta representatives), Infosys CEO Salil Parekh, HCLTech Chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra and Adani Group executives. The event aimed to showcase India’s ambitions in AI under the government-backed mission, including compute access, talent development and ethical frameworks.

Social media erupted with memes and commentary. Users on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit noted the “AI cold war” playing out visibly, with some joking about the need for “better prompt engineering” in group photos. Others saw it as symbolic of fractured unity in an industry facing regulatory scrutiny worldwide.

The moment underscores how personal and philosophical divides persist even amid global cooperation calls. AI leaders often stress collaboration on safety standards, yet competitive pressures — from funding rounds to model releases — keep rivalries sharp.

No escalation followed the photo. Sessions continued with panels on AI’s economic impact, workforce transformation and governance. Altman is scheduled for a student interaction at IIT Delhi on Friday, while the summit wraps up with more policy-focused discussions.
For India, hosting such figures signals its growing clout in global tech. The government’s push for sovereign AI capabilities, data centers and skill-building programs drew praise from attendees, even as the viral awkwardness reminded observers that tech’s brightest minds don’t always align seamlessly.

As AI advances rapidly, moments like Thursday’s hand-holding snub serve as a reminder: behind the algorithms and valuations lie human egos, differing visions and unresolved questions about who shapes the technology’s trajectory.