anthropic plans to open india office, eyes tie-up with billionaire ambani

Anthropic Expands into India with New Office and Potential Reliance Partnership

Dario Amodei, co-founder and CEO of Anthropic, is currently visiting India. His itinerary includes establishing a new office in Bengaluru and exploring collaborative opportunities with Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani, as reported by TechCrunch.

This strategic move demonstrates Anthropic’s commitment to strengthening its position in its second-largest market globally, following the United States.

Meetings with Reliance Executives and Government Officials

Amodei is scheduled to meet with Ambani and other key leaders at Reliance Industries in Mumbai. Discussions are centered around a potential partnership designed to broaden access to Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant within India.

Furthermore, Amodei will engage with prominent lawmakers and senior government officials in New Delhi. Reports suggest a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also planned.

India: A Key Growth Market for AI

India, boasting over a billion internet subscribers, represents a significant growth area for Anthropic. Numerous Indian AI startups are already integrating Claude models into their products, serving both domestic and U.S.-based clients.

Digital intelligence firm Similarweb indicates that India generates the second-highest volume of traffic to the Claude website, surpassed only by the United States.

Reliance’s AI Initiatives and Prior Discussions with OpenAI

In August, Reliance Industries formed partnerships with leading technology companies, including Google and Meta, to develop AI infrastructure and solutions through its new division, Reliance Intelligence.

Previously, Reliance had explored a potential collaboration with OpenAI, which launched a budget-friendly ChatGPT plan in India and intends to open an office in New Delhi in 2025. A formal announcement of the Reliance-OpenAI partnership was anticipated during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s planned visit last month, but the trip was ultimately postponed.

Requests for comment from Reliance Industries and OpenAI have not yet been answered.

Bengaluru Office and Developer Focus

Anthropic is set to officially open its Bengaluru office on Thursday, with Guillaume Princen, EMEA head, and Daniel Delaney, startups chief, accompanying Amodei.

Leading venture capital firms, such as Accel and Lightspeed, are hosting sessions with Anthropic executives to discuss how developers and startups can utilize Claude in their respective offerings.

Unlike OpenAI’s plans for a broader sales and marketing presence in New Delhi, Anthropic’s Bengaluru office will primarily focus on supporting developers and startups.

Growing User Base and App Performance

Data from Appfigures reveals a 48% year-over-year increase in downloads of the Claude app in India during September, reaching approximately 767,000 installs. Consumer spending on the app surged by 572% year-over-year, generating $195,000 in revenue for the month.

While these figures are promising, they remain smaller compared to the United States, where downloads increased by 91% and consumer spending rose by 604%, reaching $2.5 million in September. Globally, the app experienced a 74% growth in downloads and a 546% increase in consumer spending during the same period.

Competition in the Indian AI Market

Alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity is also actively pursuing opportunities in the Indian market. They have partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer Perplexity Pro subscriptions to over 360 million Airtel customers for a year.

Perplexity has also tailored its product for Indian users, including the introduction of live earnings call transcripts for Indian stocks to enhance engagement.

An anonymous founder closely associated with Anthropic confirmed that India is currently the region with the largest usage of their AI services.

Anthropic did not provide a comment when contacted.