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.

The Trump administration is stepping up its push to reinvigorate the U.S. coal industry as it pursues its goal of boosting energy security.

Last week, the Department of Energy announced that it would provide $175 million in funding for projects to modernize, retrofit and extend the useful life of six coal-fired power plants that serve rural and remote communities. 

The agency said the move is intended to keep dependable sources of energy online, while also strengthening the reliability of the electric grid and keeping electricity costs low for American households and businesses.

The funding came from a previously announced $525 million plan to extend the life of coal plants and increase efficiency, as the administration views modernizing existing plants as a fast and cost-effective way to provide reliable power while preserving high-wage energy jobs.

COAL PLANTS STEP UP AS HISTORIC WINTER STORM PUSHES US POWER GRID TO THE BRINK

The Trump administration is providing funds to support coal power plants as part of the nation’s energy mix. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

“For years, previous administrations targeted America’s coal industry and the workers who power our country, forcing the premature closure of reliable power plants, and driving up electricity costs,” said Energy Secretary Chris Wright. 

“President Trump has ended the war on American coal and is restoring common-sense energy policy. These investments will keep America’s coal plants operating, keep costs low for Americans, and ensure we have the reliable power needed to keep the lights on and power our future,” Wright added.

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The administration’s will fund projects to extend the life of coal-fired power plants. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)

The coal-fired power plants that were selected as part of the $175 million project include:

• Appalachian Power Company’s facilities in Letart and Winfield, West Virginia
• Buckeye Power’s plant in Brilliant, Ohio
• Duke Energy Carolinas’ plants in Sauaratown Township, North Carolina
• Kentucky Utilities Corporation’s facility in Ghent, Kentucky
• Monongahela Power Company’s power plant in Maidsville, West Virginia
• Ohio Valley Electric Corporation’s plant in Cheshire, Ohio

Electricity demand is surging amid the artificial intelligence (AI) race, as data centers that consume vast amounts of energy become a bigger drain on the grid.

TRUMP ENERGY CHIEF OUTLINES COAL’S ‘CRUCIAL’ ROLE IN AFFORDABILITY AS ADMIN PUSHES TO KEEP PLANTS RUNNING

Coal’s share of electricity generation has declined rapidly in recent decades. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Trump administration’s push to boost coal as a part of the nation’s energy mix comes after years of decline as coal power plants closed. Coal’s decline came amid the rise of natural gas and renewable energy sources as energy sources.

Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that coal’s total output for electricity generation peaked in 2007, when it was the source of 2,016 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. 

That figure declined to 675 billion kilowatt-hours as of 2023, when coal’s share of electricity generation was 16.2%. Coal last generated over half of the nation’s electricity in the early 2000s and peaked as a proportion of the energy mix in the 1980s.

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Natural gas surpassed coal as the country’s largest source of electricity in 2016, and EIA data showed natural gas generated 43.1% of the nation’s electricity in 2023.

Business Improvement Districts say ‘this is too complex an issue to be rushed’

Hospitality bodies in Liverpool and Manchester have joined forces to urge the Government to take its time over plans for a national “tourist tax” to avoid another u-turn.

Last week hotels and holiday companies around the country – including many in the North – signed an open letter calling for the Government to scrap plans for a visitor levy. The policy, which a number of Northern mayors have indicated they want to take up, allows areas to levy a small charge on overnight stays to raise money for infrastructure improvements and projects that benefit the tourism sector.

Industry body UK Hospitality says it has “serious concerns about the timing and impact of the plans”, warning that the industry is also struggling with rising costs from other Government measures.

Now the Accommodation Business Improvement Districts (ABIDs) in Liverpool and Manchester have issued a joint statement that calls for the introduction of the levy to be at least slowed down.

The statement says: “This is too complex an issue to be rushed and we would urge the Government to slow down and think this through. There has been limited opportunity to speak to the business sector it directly impacts; hotels and hospitality.

“The reason the ABID model and visitor levy works so well in Manchester and Liverpool is because it is private sector led, it puts the hotel industry at the heart of the strategy and it gives them a voice. It took years of work, consultation, talking and planning to get this right. This is a ground-up approach that is generating real economic results for both cities because it has empowered the industry to have a say in the visitor economy.

“Over the next 2-years, the two ABIDs are forecast to invest upwards of £17 million in Manchester and Liverpool, making the cities more appealing to visitors and improving local prospects with more investment, more jobs, greater opportunity and increased pride.

“Instead, as we have said to the government as part of this consultation exercise, the plans for a so-called national “tourist tax” have not given the industry a voice and are too vague, currently. Instead it burdens them with another layer of bureaucracy and taxation. This is a sector that is at the forefront of business rates increases. There is a real risk that a proposal that is not planned out, that disregards the complexity of the situation ends up hitting a city driven regeneration policy and undermines two years of good work.

“We cannot afford another u-turn, we need solid and sound plans to be put in place before any decisions are made.

“We are working with our stakeholders across the UK but we would say slow down, let’s do this right the first time, not have to pick up the pieces further down the road.”

Bill Addy, chief executive of Liverpool BID Company, and Vaughan Allen, chief executive of CityCo in Manchester, have jointly written to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to respond to the Government’s consultation.

Belby, a district nurse, had hoped to get the money returned in time for Christmas but found the process of trying to secure her refund slow and stressful, especially because she said she was given conflicting information and was quoted two vastly different figures of how much she was owed.