CALIFORNIA, USA: The image of two of the world’s most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) executives awkwardly refusing to hold hands on stage at the AI summit in New Delhi became an instant sensation. But according to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, the moment that sparked endless speculation about corporate rivalry was simply a case of summit disorganisation.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Amodei offered a candid explanation for the viral episode that occurred during the India AI Impact Summit earlier this year, where he and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared on stage together.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei stated in a Bloomberg interview that the India AI Summit was “extremely disorganised”.
About the chaos on stage: “There was Narendra Modi up there suddenly telling everyone to hold hands…” (collapses with laughter). pic.twitter.com/24lnmtCw17
— Amitabh Dubey (@dubeyamitabh) June 18, 2026
‘Extremely Disorganised’: Amodei on summit chaos
Amodei dismissed suggestions that the awkward moment reflected personal animosity or competitive tension between Anthropic and OpenAI. Instead, he attributed it to last-minute changes and confusion on stage.
“The summit was extremely disorganised,” Amodei told Bloomberg. “We all came up at the last minute and they like changed the order in which we were standing, and then like, they took a picture of us and then they ordered us all to like, hold hands.”
The India-loathing Congress ecosystem is circulating an edited clip to malign the hugely successful AI Summit held in Delhi.
What they conveniently omit is that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei explicitly clarified that he was not singling out India and that such large global summits… https://t.co/iIpcoqAcoU pic.twitter.com/1ejuonU5vj
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) June 18, 2026
The Anthropic chief clarified that his criticism was not directed at India specifically, noting that such high-profile international summits involving heads of state often descend into chaos.
“I am not saying anything bad about India in particular, but like all of these kind of international type summits that have like heads of state are like super disorganised,” he said.
Amodei also recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence on stage when the instruction was given, adding to the confusion.
“There was like, you know, Narendra Modi up there suddenly telling everyone to like, suddenly telling everyone to hold hands,” Amodei said.
The Anthropic-OpenAI rivalry: A matter of trust
Beyond the viral moment, Amodei addressed the deeper rift between Anthropic and OpenAI, two of the most closely watched companies in the global AI race. Amodei, along with his sister Daniela Amodei and several others, left OpenAI in 2021 to found Anthropic, which has since positioned itself as an AI company focused heavily on safety.
When asked why he left OpenAI, Amodei revealed that disagreements over AI safety alone were not enough to trigger the split.
“There are many valid disagreements to be had on safety. We certainly had some of those disagreements with them, but that alone is not sufficient to leave,” he said.
What ultimately drove the separation, according to Amodei, was a breakdown in trust.
“When you feel that you can’t trust someone, when you feel that their values are not what they say they are, when you feel that they’re not honest, when you feel that they’re not in it for the reasons that they say, when you see disturbing patterns of behavior and dishonesty, that makes it very hard to continue to work with a company,” he stated.
