Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei visits India to open Bengaluru office and explore partnership with Reliance Industries

Dario Amodei, the co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, is currently in India, aiming to bolster the company's foothold in one of its most promising markets, following the United States. His itinerary includes the inauguration of a new office in Bengaluru and discussions about a potential collaboration with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries. During his visit, Amodei intends to engage with Ambani and top executives at Reliance, which operates India's leading telecom service, Reliance Jio. Reports indicate that the two firms have been negotiating for several months, focusing on introducing Anthropic's Claude AI assistant to a broader Indian audience. With over a billion internet users, India has rapidly become a pivotal region for Anthropic. The country now ranks second in traffic to Claude's website, trailing only the U.S. Several Indian AI startups are already utilizing Claude's models in their offerings, catering to both domestic and international markets. In a related development, Reliance Industries recently launched Reliance Intelligence, a new division aimed at developing AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions in partnership with tech giants like Google and Meta. Earlier this year, Reliance also considered a potential partnership with OpenAI, although that initiative faced delays following OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's postponed visit to India. Later this week, Amodei will officially open Anthropic's first office in India in Bengaluru. He is joined by Guillaume Princen, the head of EMEA, and Daniel Delaney, the chief for startups. Venture capital firms such as Accel and Lightspeed are facilitating dedicated sessions with Anthropic executives to guide Indian startups on integrating Claude into their products. The Claude app has experienced significant growth in India. According to Appfigures, downloads surged by 48 percent year-over-year in September, reaching approximately 767,000, while consumer spending increased dramatically by 572 percent to $195,000. However, these figures are still modest compared to the U.S., where consumer spending on the app reached $2.5 million last month. Anthropic is now among a growing roster of AI companies eyeing India's thriving market, with AI search startup Perplexity already collaborating with Bharti Airtel to provide its Pro subscription to over 360 million users, tailoring its services for local needs. Anthropic has yet to issue an official statement regarding its plans in India.