Anthropic plans to open India office, eyes tie-up with billionaire Ambani

Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is successful India this week, with plans to acceptable up an bureau successful Bengaluru and research a concern with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, TechCrunch has learned. The determination signals the AI startup’s propulsion to deepen its beingness successful its second-largest marketplace aft the U.S.

Amodei is expected to sojourn Mumbai to conscionable Ambani and different elder executives astatine Reliance Industries, India’s astir invaluable institution and the genitor of the nation’s apical telecom operator, Reliance Jio, radical acquainted with the substance told TechCrunch. Anthropic has been successful discussions with Reliance for immoderate clip implicit a imaginable concern to grow entree to its Claude AI adjunct successful India, the radical said.

India — the world’s second-largest online marketplace aft China, with more than a cardinal net subscribers — has emerged arsenic an important maturation portion for Anthropic. Several Indian AI startups already usage its Claude models successful their products for some home and U.S. clients. India besides accounts for the second-highest stock of postulation to Claude’s website aft the U.S., according to integer quality steadfast Similarweb.

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

In August, Reliance Industries partnered with large exertion companies, including its existing investors Google and Meta, to physique AI infrastructure and endeavor solutions done its caller unit, Reliance Intelligence. The Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate had besides explored a imaginable collaboration with OpenAI, which rolled retired its under-$5 ChatGPT program successful India earlier this twelvemonth and announced plans to unfastened an bureau successful New Delhi aboriginal successful 2025.

That Reliance–OpenAI concern was expected to beryllium announced during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s planned sojourn to India past month, but Altman yet postponed the trip.

Reliance Industries did not respond to a petition for comment.

Alongside Mumbai, Amodei is visiting New Delhi to conscionable apical lawmakers and elder national authorities officials, sources said. He is besides expected to conscionable Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 2 radical acquainted with his travel plans told TechCrunch.

Later successful the week, Amodei volition beryllium successful Bengaluru to denote Anthropic’s bureau opening connected Thursday, sources told TechCrunch. Anthropic EMEA caput Guillaume Princen and startups main Daniel Delaney are besides accompanying him. Prominent task funds, including Accel and Lightspeed, are besides hosting dedicated sessions with Anthropic executives this week to stock insights connected however developers and startups tin leverage Claude for their offerings.

Anthropic’s Claude app, disposable connected iOS and Android, recorded a 48% year-over-year summation successful downloads successful India successful September, reaching astir 767,000 installs this year, according to Appfigures. Consumer spending connected the app successful India surged 572% year-over-year, generating $195,000 successful September alone, the information showed.

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

The India figures, however, stay humble compared with those successful the United States, wherever downloads roseate 91% year-over-year and user spending jumped 604%. U.S. users spent $2.5 cardinal connected the Claude app successful September, per Appfigures. Globally, the app saw 74% maturation successful downloads to 1.01 cardinal and a 546% emergence successful user spending to $5.62 cardinal successful the aforesaid month.

Unlike OpenAI, which aims to found a income and selling setup portion overseeing argumentation updates from New Delhi, Anthropic plans to people developers and startups with its bureau successful Bengaluru.

Image Credits:Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

Anthropic is seeing its largest usage coming from India, a laminitis who works intimately with the AI institution told TechCrunch, requesting anonymity.

Alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity is besides looking to pat India’s market. The institution has partnered with Indian telecom relation Bharti Airtel to connection its Perplexity Pro subscription to implicit 360 cardinal Airtel customers for 12 months. The AI hunt startup has besides refined its merchandise for section users, including by launching unrecorded net telephone transcripts for Indian stocks to pull much engagement from India.

Anthropic did not respond to a petition for comment.