OpenAI, Anthropic CEOs’ awkward moment steals AI summit showA moment that was meant to be a show of unity about the future of humanity, instead looked more like a playground standoff.Robert White@white_robb734163 min readFebruary 20, 2026 - 12:03PMIt was meant to be a show of unity about the future of humanity, instead, it looked more like a playground standoff.The world’s top artificial intelligence bosses gathered in New Delhi this week for the AI Impact Summit, but it was an awkward onstage moment between rival CEO’s Sam Altman and Dario Amodei that stole the spotlight.In a photo opportunity alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pair appeared to refuse to hold hands triggering instant ridicule online — with some declaring it was part of an AI ‘cold war’.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (2nd R), Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (R) at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026. Picture: Ludovic Marin/ AFPSo close yet so far. Picture: Ludovic Marin/ AFPMr Amodei is a former vice president and senior research leader at Altman’s OpenAI before leaving in 2021 to found Anthropic.As dignitaries linked hands on stage, Mr Altman appeared to reach out, Mr Amodei didn’t, and social media erupted.“Catfight in corporate is at different level,” one commentator said on X.“Why is Sam Altman acting like someone forced him to stand next to the dog,” another added.Some took a more moderate approach.“Framing it as ‘not holding hands’ makes it sound personal, but frontier labs split over governance and commercialisation because incentives diverge at scale,” one commenter said. “When leaders like Sam Altman and Dario Amodei part ways, it signals strategy, not drama. Alignment has limits.”Another said the awkwardness reflected the “AI cold war” starting.“Sam Altman reached out for the hand hold,” one commenter said. “Dario Amodei just stared at it like it was malware.”The CEO’s have been feuding recently. Picture: Yuichi Yamazaki/ AFPAltman tells leaders regulation ‘urgently’ neededThe viral moment came as global leaders and tech titans debated how to regulate rapidly advancing artificial intelligence.Mr Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, used the summit to call for urgent global oversight.“Centralisation of this technology in one company or country could lead to ruin,” he said.“This is not to suggest that we won’t need any regulation or safeguards. We obviously do, urgently, like we have for other powerful technologies.”The Summit, the largest yet and the first hosted in a developing nation, saw India push its ambition to become a major AI player alongside the United States and China.“We must democratise AI. It must become a medium for inclusion and empowerment,” Mr Modi told delegates.Prime Minister Modi showing how it’s done with other world leaders earlier. Picture: Stephane Lemouton/ AFP“We are entering an era where humans and intelligence systems co-create, co-work and coevolve,” he said. “We must resolve that AI is used for the global common good.”UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed the call, declaring: “AI must belong to everyone.”He urged tech leaders to support a $3 billion global fund to boost AI skills and computing access, warning: “The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries — or left to the whims of a few billionaires.”The Delhi handshake drama comes just weeks after Anthropic and OpenAI clashed publicly during Super Bowl LX.Anthropic spent millions airing commercials that took direct aim at OpenAI’s plans to test ads in ChatGPT.One 30-second spot featured a scrawny twenty-something doing pull-ups in a park and asking a muscular bystander for advice about achieving six-pack abs. The man replies in a robotic way that suggests he is a chatbot, offering to provide a personalised strength-training plan. But first, he slips in a promotion for shoe inserts that help “short kings stand tall” prompting a puzzled response from the twenty-something.The punchline being “ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”OpenAI had announced weeks earlier it would begin testing ads in ChatGPT.Altman hit back on X, calling the spots “funny” but “clearly dishonest.”In an interview with the TBPN podcast, he was more blunt.“We’re not stupid,” said Altman. “We respect our users, we understand that if we did something like what those ads depict, people will rightfully stop using our product.”Data analysed by BNP Paribas showed Anthropic’s campaign delivered the biggest user boost of any AI company advertising during the game, according to CNBC. Amodei is a former central figure at OpenAI. Picture: AP /Markus SchreiberDaily active users of Claude rose 11 per cent after the Super Bowl and visits to its website jumped 6.5 per cent. ChatGPT saw a 2.7 per cent increase in daily active users post-game.Big money, big stakesDespite the theatrics, the stakes are enormous.India expects more than $200 billion in AI investments over the next two years. OpenAI and Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services announced plans to build hyperscale AI data centre capacity in India, while Google said it would lay subsea cables as part of a $15 billion infrastructure push.More Coverage‘Depression’: Top exec’s bleak work predictionHannah Wilcox‘AI cops’ hit Aussies with $100m+ in finesDanielle CollisPower-hungry data centres are under construction worldwide as companies race to develop more advanced systems even as concerns grow about job disruption, online abuse and the environmental toll.“We will prove that AI does not take away jobs. 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