A Timeline of Anthropic and OpenAI's Budding Rivalry - Business Insider

A Timeline of Anthropic and OpenAI's Budding Rivalry - Business Insider 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 From a tense corporate split to a viral photo: A timeline of Anthropic and OpenAI's budding rivalry

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Brent D. Griffiths 
 
 
 
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 The feud between OpenAI Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei started long before the viral photo of them refusing to join hands in unity. 
 
 Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2026-02-20T09:59:01.221Z
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Sam Altman and Dario Amodei went viral for refusing to join together in a sign of unity.

 Once colleagues, the two AI CEOs have helped nurse their companies' rivalry.

 Here's how OpenAI and Anthropic finally reached this point.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 If you want to know one of the biggest rivalries in AI, just ask for a show of hands.

 On Thursday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei provided what is sure to become an iconic image of their feud. The pair went viral for refusing to join hands as the rest of the world's tech leaders gathered for a moment of unity, sparked by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 
 
 Here's a timeline of how Altman and Amodei went from colleagues to becoming the face of AI's Cold War. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 July 2015: Decisions happened over dinner

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Elon Musk and Sam Altman are seen on stage together in 2015. While the pair later had their own falling-out, both were instrumental in the creation of OpenAI. 
 
 Michael Kovac/Getty Images 
 
 
 
 In July 2015, Tesla CEO Elon Musk , Altman, and a group of elite AI res

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