Anthropic plans to open an office in India, and is looking to collaborate with billionaire Ambani

Anthropic co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is in India this week, with plans to set up an office in Bengaluru and explore a partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, TechCrunch has learned. This step indicates the startup company working in the field of artificial intelligence is seeking to deepen its presence in its second largest market after the United States

Amodei is expected to visit Mumbai to meet Ambani and other top executives at Reliance Industries, India’s most valuable company and the parent company of the country’s largest telecom operator, Reliance Jio, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. Anthropic has been in discussions with Reliance for some time about a potential partnership to expand access to the Claude AI assistant in India, sources said.

India – The second largest online market in the world after China, with More than one billion Internet subscribers – It has emerged as an important growth area for anthropologists. Several Indian AI startups are already using CLOUD models in their products for both domestic and US clients. India also accounts for the second highest share of traffic to Cloud’s website after the United States, according to the digital intelligence firm Similar site.

In August, Reliance Industries In partnership with major technology companiesincluding its existing investors Google and Meta, to build AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions through its new unit Reliance Intelligence. The Mumbai-headquartered group has also explored the possibility of collaborating with OpenAI, which launched its under-$5 ChatGPT plan in India earlier this year and announced plans to open an office in New Delhi later in 2025.

The Reliance-OpenAI partnership was expected to be announced during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s scheduled visit to India last month, but Altman eventually postponed the trip.

Reliance Industries did not respond to a request for comment. TechCrunch has also reached out to OpenAI for comment.

Besides Mumbai, Amodei is visiting New Delhi to meet senior lawmakers and senior federal government officials, sources said. He is also expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two people familiar with his trip plans told TechCrunch.

Later in the week, Amodei will be in Bengaluru to announce the opening of Anthropic’s office on Thursday, sources told TechCrunch. He is also accompanied by Anthropic Head of EMEA Guillaume Prinsen and Head of Startups Daniel Delaney. Prominent venture funds, including Accel and Lightspeed, are also hosting dedicated sessions with Anthropic executives this week to brainstorm ideas on how developers and startups can leverage Claude in their offerings.

Anthropic’s Claude app, available on iOS and Android, recorded a 48% year-on-year increase in downloads in India in September, reaching about 767,000 installs this year, according to Appfigures. The data showed that consumer spending on the app in India rose by 572% year-on-year, generating $195,000 in September alone.

However, numbers in India remain modest compared to those in the US, where downloads rose 91% year-on-year and consumer spending jumped 604%. US users spent $2.5 million on the Claude app in September, according to Appfigures. Globally, the app saw a 74% growth in downloads to 1.01 million and a 546% increase in consumer spending to $5.62 million in the same month.

Unlike OpenAI, which aims to create a sales and marketing setup while overseeing policy updates from New Delhi, Anthropic plans to target developers and startups through its office in Bengaluru.

Anthropic is seeing its biggest use coming from India, a founder who works closely with the AI ​​company told TechCrunch, requesting anonymity.

Along with Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity is also looking to tap into the Indian market. The company has partnered with Indian telecom company Bharti Airtel to provide its services Perplexity Pro subscription for over 360 million Airtel customers For 12 months. The AI ​​search startup has also improved its product for local users, including through Launch live earnings call scripts For Indian stocks to attract more participation from India.

Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.