Anthropic CEO Positions India as Central Engine for Future AI Economy
New Delhi, Thursday, 19 February 2026.
Amodei projects India could realize 25% AI-driven growth, outpacing developed nations. Anthropic is backing this potential by opening a Bengaluru office to leverage the country’s vast talent pool.
Unlocking Economic Velocity
Speaking at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, February 19, 2026, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei outlined a staggering economic divergence between emerging and established markets driven by artificial intelligence. Amodei suggested that while developed economies might experience growth rates of around 10%, India is positioned to achieve AI-driven growth rates of 20% to 25% [1]. This projection implies a potential growth advantage of 15 percentage points for India over its developed counterparts at the upper bound. Amodei described India as “almost a perfect case study” for this acceleration, noting that the country possesses all the necessary base ingredients for AI to act as a binding force for rapid economic expansion [1].
A Benchmark for the Global South
Amodei’s strategy extends beyond corporate alliances to encompass India’s digital public infrastructure. He asserted that technologies pioneered and scaled in India are effectively setting the standard for the Global South [4]. Highlighting the “energy and ambition” of Indian builders as palpable and unique, Amodei emphasized that the adoption of AI in the region could help overcome traditional barriers to catch-up growth [1][3]. Anthropic is currently collaborating with Indian non-profits such as the EkStep Foundation, Pratham, and the Central Square Foundation to deploy AI models in critical areas including digital infrastructure, education, agriculture, and health [1].
The Trajectory of Superhuman Intelligence
During his address at Bharat Mandapam, Amodei provided a technical forecast that frames the urgency of these developments. He described the rapid advancement of AI capabilities over the last decade as a “Moore’s law for intelligence,” predicting that society is now approaching a transformative moment where AI systems will surpass human performance in most cognitive tasks [3]. He characterized this future state as having access to a “country of geniuses in a data centre”—a network of AI agents coordinating at superhuman speeds to solve complex problems [1]. This trajectory, according to Amodei, offers unprecedented opportunities to address historical challenges like disease and poverty [3][4].
Navigating Risk and Rivalry
However, the Anthropic CEO cautioned that this rapid evolution is accompanied by significant stakes, including the potential for autonomous model behavior, misuse by state and non-state actors, and economic displacement [4]. Amodei stressed that India has an “absolutely central role” to play in navigating these risks, just as it does in seizing the opportunities [1][7]. The summit, which runs from February 16 to 20, also highlighted the competitive tension in the industry; a group photograph featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—representing two of the world’s leading AI firms—raising fists rather than holding hands, a moment widely noted by observers [3][7].