Anthropic plans to open India office, eyes tie-up 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. The move signals the AI startup’s push to deepen its presence in its second-largest market after the U.S.

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

India — the world’s second-largest online market after China, with more than a billion internet subscribers — has emerged as an important growth region for Anthropic. Several Indian AI startups already use its Claude models in their products for both domestic and U.S. clients. India also accounts for the second-highest share of traffic to Claude’s website after the U.S., according to digital intelligence firm Similarweb.

In August, Reliance Industries partnered with major technology companies, including its existing investors Google and Meta, to build AI infrastructure and enterprise solutions through its new unit, Reliance Intelligence. The Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate had also explored a potential collaboration with OpenAI, which rolled out its under-$5 ChatGPT plan in India earlier this year and announced plans to open an office in New Delhi later in 2025.

That Reliance–OpenAI partnership was expected to be announced during OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s planned visit to India last month, but Altman ultimately postponed the trip.

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

Alongside Mumbai, Amodei is visiting New Delhi to meet top 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 Anthropic’s office opening on Thursday, sources told TechCrunch. Anthropic EMEA head Guillaume Princen and startups chief Daniel Delaney are also accompanying him. Prominent venture funds, including Accel and Lightspeed, are also hosting dedicated sessions with Anthropic executives this week to share insights on how developers and startups can leverage Claude for their offerings.

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

The India figures, however, remain modest compared with those in the United States, where downloads rose 91% year-over-year and consumer spending jumped 604%. U.S. users spent $2.5 million on the Claude app in September, per Appfigures. Globally, the app saw 74% growth in downloads to 1.01 million and a 546% rise in consumer spending to $5.62 million in the same month.

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

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

Alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, Perplexity is also looking to tap India’s market. The company has partnered with Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel to offer its Perplexity Pro subscription to over 360 million Airtel customers for 12 months. The AI search startup has also refined its product for local users, including by launching live earnings call transcripts for Indian stocks to attract more engagement from India.

Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.