‘Summit was extremely disorganised’: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on viral viral stage moment from India AI event

A viral moment from the India AI Impact Summit earlier this year has resurfaced after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei offered his explanation of what happened on stage alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The incident attracted widespread attention after videos appeared to show the two AI leaders refusing to hold hands during a group photograph.

However, Amodei says the reality was far less dramatic

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, he said the situation was the result of confusion and last-minute changes rather than a reflection of tensions between the two executives. 'The summit was extremely disorganised' Amodei said the organisers changed arrangements shortly before the photograph was taken.

"The summit was extremely disorganised," he told Bloomberg.

According to him, participants were brought on stage at the last minute and the order in which people were standing changed unexpectedly. "We all came up at the last minute and they changed the order in which we were standing, and then they took a picture of us and then they ordered us all to hold hands," he said.

Amodei stressed that he was not specifically criticising India.

"I am not saying anything bad about India in particular, but like all of these kinds of international summits that have heads of state are super disorganised," he added.

Prime Minister Modi was also on stage

Amodei also recalled the unusual circumstances surrounding the photograph. "There was Narendra Modi up there suddenly telling everyone to hold hands," he said while describing the moment. The comments offer a new perspective on an incident that generated significant online discussion among technology enthusiasts and AI observers. At the time, many interpreted the body language of the executives as evidence of friction between two of the most influential companies in artificial intelligence.

The larger story: Anthropic versus OpenAI

While Amodei dismissed speculation surrounding the summit photograph, he spoke more openly about his departure from OpenAI. The Anthropic chief was among several senior figures who left OpenAI in 2021 to establish Anthropic, a company that has since become one of OpenAI's biggest competitors. Founded by Dario Amodei, his sister Daniela Amodei and other former OpenAI employees, Anthropic has built its reputation around AI safety and responsible development.

During the interview, Amodei suggested that disagreements over safety were not the sole reason behind his departure.

Why Amodei says he left OpenAI

According to Amodei, trust played a larger role than policy disagreements. "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.

"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, that makes it very hard to continue to work with a company," he said.

Amodei also said he has no regrets about the decision. "Why argue with someone when you don't have the same vision and you don't trust them?" he said, adding that the market and public would ultimately decide which approach succeeds.

The remarks come at a time when competition in artificial intelligence is intensifying. Anthropic and OpenAI are among the most closely watched companies in the global AI race, alongside major technology firms investing billions of dollars into advanced AI models. As AI becomes increasingly important to business, governments and consumers, public interest in the relationships between industry leaders continues to grow. For now, however, Amodei says one of the internet's favourite AI rivalries may have been overanalysed. According to him, the viral India AI Summit moment was less about corporate competition and more about a chaotic stage arrangement.