Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is in India this week, with plans to arrange an workplace in Bengaluru and discover a partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, TechCrunch has discovered. The transfer indicators the AI startup’s push to deepen its presence in its second-largest market after the U.S.
Amodei is anticipated to go to Mumbai to satisfy Ambani and different senior executives at Reliance Industries, India’s Most worthy firm and the guardian of the nation’s high telecom operator, Reliance Jio, folks accustomed to the matter advised TechCrunch. Anthropic has been in discussions with Reliance for a while over a possible partnership to broaden entry to its Claude AI assistant in India, the folks stated.
India — the world’s second-largest on-line market after China, with greater than a billion web subscribers — has emerged as an essential development area for Anthropic. A number of Indian AI startups already use its Claude fashions of their merchandise for each home and U.S. purchasers. India additionally accounts for the second-highest share of visitors to Claude’s web site after the U.S., in accordance with digital intelligence agency Similarweb.
In August, Reliance Industries partnered with main know-how corporations, together with its present buyers Google and Meta, to construct AI infrastructure and enterprise options by way of its new unit, Reliance Intelligence. The Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate had additionally explored a possible collaboration with OpenAI, which rolled out its under-$5 ChatGPT plan in India earlier this yr and introduced plans to open an workplace in New Delhi later in 2025.
That Reliance–OpenAI partnership was anticipated to be introduced throughout OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s deliberate go to to India final month, however Altman in the end postponed the journey.
Reliance Industries didn’t reply to a request for remark. TechCrunch has additionally reached out to OpenAI for remark.
Alongside Mumbai, Amodei is visiting New Delhi to satisfy high lawmakers and senior federal authorities officers, sources stated. He’s additionally anticipated to satisfy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two folks accustomed to his journey plans advised TechCrunch.
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Later within the week, Amodei shall be in Bengaluru to announce Anthropic’s workplace opening on Thursday, sources advised TechCrunch. Anthropic EMEA head Guillaume Princen and startups chief Daniel Delaney are additionally accompanying him. Outstanding enterprise funds, together with Accel and Lightspeed, are additionally internet hosting devoted periods with Anthropic executives this week to share insights on how builders and startups can leverage Claude for his or her choices.
Anthropic’s Claude app, obtainable on iOS and Android, recorded a 48% year-over-year enhance in downloads in India in September, reaching about 767,000 installs this yr, in accordance with Appfigures. Shopper spending on the app in India surged 572% year-over-year, producing $195,000 in September alone, the info confirmed.
The India figures, nevertheless, stay modest in contrast with these in america, the place downloads rose 91% year-over-year and client spending jumped 604%. U.S. customers spent $2.5 million on the Claude app in September, per Appfigures. Globally, the app noticed 74% development in downloads to 1.01 million and a 546% rise in client spending to $5.62 million in the identical month.
In contrast to OpenAI, which goals to ascertain a gross sales and advertising setup whereas overseeing coverage updates from New Delhi, Anthropic plans to focus on builders and startups with its workplace in Bengaluru.
Anthropic is seeing its largest utilization coming from India, a founder who works carefully with the AI firm advised TechCrunch, requesting anonymity.
Alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity can also be seeking to faucet India’s market. The corporate has partnered with Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel to supply its Perplexity Professional subscription to over 360 million Airtel clients for 12 months. The AI search startup has additionally refined its product for native customers, together with by launching stay earnings name transcripts for Indian shares to draw extra engagement from India.
Anthropic didn’t reply to a request for remark.
