Anthropic to Open India Office in 2026 to Boost AI Innovation

Anthropic, one of the world’s leading AI companies and creator of the Claude chatbot, is rapidly expanding its global footprint. Why? The user base of Claude AI is constantly growing; as of now, it has 30 million active users in 2025. Hence, after reshaping the U.S. and European AI markets, the company now has its sights set on India — a country that’s become central to its user growth and talent ambitions.

Anthropic founder and CEO Dario Amodei is in India this week. He will be meeting with Mukesh Ambani and some of the senior executives at Reliance Industries to explore a potential partnership. Moreover, Anthropic is in constant touch with Reliance to help expand access to Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant in India. 

After that, Dario Amodei plans to meet top lawmakers and senior federal government officials. He will also meet with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, for AI cooperation. Subsequently, Amodei will travel to Bengaluru, where Anthropic intends to launch its India operations. 

India has the second-highest internet user base in the world, just after China, according to a report. Moreover, India is now the most crucial market for Anthropic, ranking second only to the U.S. in user traffic for its Claude chatbot, according to the Economic Index. Furthermore, the majority of the users in India consider Claude for technical and programming-related tasks, such as mobile UI development and web app debugging. 

These statistics demonstrate that India presents a significant opportunity for AI adoption.

Anthropic has officially confirmed that it will open its first Indian office in Bengaluru in early 2026. 

“This expansion will help us serve India’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem,” the company said in its announcement. Dario Amodei added, “India is compelling because of the scale of its technical talent and the commitment from the Indian government to ensure the benefits of artificial intelligence reach all areas of society, not just concentrated pockets.” 

Paul Smith, Anthropic’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that India’s startups and enterprises demand AI modes with a combination of high performance, reliability, and trust. He noted that the company aims to collaborate with startups and enterprises to develop AI solutions that positively impact the lives of people worldwide.

Simultaneously, Anthropic is investing heavily in Indic language support. It plans to enhance performance in Hindi and expand to Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, Urdu, Malayalam, and Punjabi. The move aligns with India’s multilingual digital ecosystem and the government’s broader push for inclusive AI adoption.

Just before expanding its operations in India, the company had already established an office in Japan. To meet growing global demand, Anthropic has announced plans to triple its international workforce. 

As Anthropic expands in India, OpenAI is also not far behind. The company behind ChatGPT has completed the registration process and plans to open an office in New Delhi in 2025. 

In short, OpenAI and Anthropic, along with Google’s Gemini and Perplexity AI, see India as a key battleground for AI adoption.

As compared to OpenAI, which focuses on sales, marketing, and policy, Anthropic is specifically targeting developers, startups, and enterprises across Bengaluru and later in India. The goal is to advance AI in India’s education, healthcare, and agriculture sectors.

Moreover, Anthropic views India not just as a user base but also as a source of innovation. By establishing a local presence, they aim to co-develop AI applications tailored for Indian challenges and regulatory norms. 

With this launch, Anthropic is strategically positioning itself in India to fulfill the rising demand and nurture the local talent. It plans to open its Bengaluru office in 2026, alongside building great relationships with government and business leaders. This strategic move showcases that Claude’s India entry is not limited to location, but rather a bet on co-creation, regional relevance, and building a long-term presence in the growing AI market.