New Delhi: India will play an “absolutely central role” in shaping the future of artificial intelligence, both in managing its risks and unlocking its benefits, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said on Thursday at the AI Impact Summit 2026 in the national capital.
Addressing policymakers, industry leaders and technologists, Amodei said India’s scale, democratic framework and technical talent position it uniquely in the global AI landscape. He underlined that the country’s leadership will be critical as advanced AI systems become more powerful and more deeply integrated into economies and societies.
AI nearing ‘Country of Geniuses in a Data Centre’
Amodei described AI’s progress over the past decade as exponential, likening it to a “Moore’s Law for intelligence.” According to him, AI systems are only a few years away from surpassing the cognitive abilities of most humans across a wide range of tasks.
He referred to this future as a “country of geniuses in a data centre” a network of AI agents that can coordinate at superhuman speed and outperform most people in many areas. Such systems, he said, could help cure diseases that have long remained untreatable, improve health outcomes, and lift millions out of poverty, particularly across the Global South.
At the same time, he warned that these advances come with serious risks. These include autonomous AI behaviour, misuse by individuals or governments, and economic disruption caused by automation.
Anthropic expands India presence
Signalling its long-term commitment to the country, Anthropic announced the opening of its new office in Bengaluru earlier this week. The company has appointed Irina Ghose as Managing Director for its India operations.
Anthropic is also partnering with major Indian enterprises, including Infosys, to drive practical AI adoption across sectors such as digital infrastructure and enterprise transformation. The company said these collaborations will focus on deploying its AI models for locally relevant applications.
Beyond corporate partnerships, Anthropic is working with Indian non-profits such as EkStep Foundation, Pratham and Central Square Foundation. These efforts aim to deploy AI in education, agriculture, health and digital public infrastructure. The company is also collaborating with global institutions to evaluate its Claude model across India’s regional languages and use cases like legal services and farming.
Economic boost with disruption risks
During a fireside conversation at the summit, Amodei said India could benefit more than developed economies from AI-driven growth. While advanced economies might see growth of around 10 percent due to AI, he suggested India could potentially achieve much higher gains.
He described India as a “perfect case study” for AI-led growth, citing its strong technical talent base and rapid technology adoption. With the right collaboration between developers, researchers and policymakers, he said, economic growth could theoretically reach 20 to 25 percent though he acknowledged that such projections are ambitious.
However, he stressed that safety, predictability and human control must remain priorities. Economic displacement is another major concern. As AI expands, job roles and economic structures will change. “The upside is huge,” he said, “but we must prepare for the shifts AI will bring.”
Amodei also expressed willingness to work with India on safety testing and economic research under New Delhi’s Frontier AI commitments. He thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for convening the summit and praised the “energy and ambition” of India’s technology ecosystem.
He concluded that while AI presents both significant risks and transformative potential, India’s choices in the coming years will shape not just its own future, but the global AI order.