The rivalry between OpenAI and Anthropic has become a defining feature of the artificial intelligence landscape, marked most recently by a highly publicized moment where their CEOs, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, declined to join hands during a unity photo at an AI summit. The tensions between these two AI leaders and their companies have deep roots that trace back several years.
In July 2015, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and top AI researchers including Dario Amodei met at the Rosewood Hotel in Menlo Park, California. Musk had recently clashed with Google CEO Larry Page, motivating the group to form a new AI lab to rival Google’s efforts. Although Amodei initially declined to join the newly founded OpenAI at its inception, he later accepted a role as Team Lead for AI Safety.
By September 2018, Amodei had risen to OpenAI’s research director position, coinciding with Altman stepping away from Y Combinator to focus fully on OpenAI, ultimately becoming its CEO. OpenAI began its pivot to a capped for-profit model, with the release of GPT-2 in late 2019, a project where Amodei played a key role. He was promoted to Vice President of Research shortly after.
June 2020 marked a breakthrough with OpenAI’s release of GPT-3, a large language model praised for its advanced capabilities yet accompanied by safety concerns, prompting controlled access through a private beta.
Despite these milestones, internal disagreements surfaced, largely stemming from Amodei’s concerns about the fast pace of AI development and safety risks. These differences led to his departure from OpenAI in December 2020, alongside several colleagues. Reflecting on his exit, Amodei suggested that his vision no longer aligned with OpenAI’s direction.
In early 2021, Amodei and a group of former OpenAI team members, including his sister Daniela, founded Anthropic. The new company focused on human-centric AI development and delayed launching its chatbot “Claude” out of caution over potential risks. Later in 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT, which quickly popularized AI chatbots.
Throughout 2024 and into 2025, Amodei made several remarks highlighting Anthropic’s stability compared to changes at OpenAI, which faced leadership shifts including the brief ousting of Altman. At an industry event, Amodei also downplayed the need for emergency measures like OpenAI’s “code red” during intense competitive pressures.
In early 2026, Anthropic launched a Super Bowl advertising campaign satirizing AI chatbot commercials, a move Altman responded to by questioning its accuracy and emphasizing OpenAI’s mission to expand AI access.
A conspicuous moment came during a high-profile AI summit in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi arranged for CEOs to raise hands in unity. Altman joined Modi’s hand but not Amodei’s, visually symbolizing the ongoing divide.
Later that month, tensions surfaced again when Anthropic refused Pentagon demands, while OpenAI secured a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense. Altman acknowledged the rushed nature of this agreement, hoping it would help ease tensions between the military and the AI industry.
This timeline captures the complex relationship between two of the most influential companies in artificial intelligence, reflecting both collaboration origins and escalating competition shaped by differing visions on AI development and governance.
