NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - When Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi nudged speakers at the India AI summit to join and

raise their hands in a symbolic ​show of unity, most executives

obliged. Two ‌did not: rivals Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario

Amodei of Anthropic.

The two, ⁠who are locked in one of Silicon Valley's fiercest

commercial ⁠rivalries, were standing side by side as ‌the 13

corporate leaders ‌joined Modi on stage, but they kept their

raised fists conspicuously apart.

Altman appeared ​visibly uncomfortable, looking away as ‌the

others, including Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, went along

with Modi's nudge and joined hands.

The episode, captured on camera ​and widely shared across

social media, ​drew ‌amused and pointed reactions online, with

many users describing it as emblematic of the "AI cold war"

between OpenAI and Anthropic.

"I ⁠didn't know what was happening on stage. I wasn't ⁠sure

what we were supposed to be doing," Altman later told news

website Moneycontrol.

OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to Reuters requests for

comment.

Bill Gates pulled out of India's summit hours ⁠before ‌his

scheduled keynote address on Thursday, dealing a ‌blow to a

flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a ⁠robot

row and complaints of traffic chaos.

However, the summit has attracted more than $200 billion in

investment pledges.

Anthropic was co-founded in 2021 by Dario Amodei and other

former OpenAI employees who broke away over disagreements about

safety, commercialisation, and Altman's leadership style.

The rift has since hardened ​into a full-blown commercial

war.

At this year's Super Bowl, Anthropic aired satirical commercials

taking a pointed jab at OpenAI's plans to introduce ​advertising

inside ChatGPT.