BENGALURU, India — Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic is preparing to establish a major presence in India, with plans to open a new office in Bengaluru and explore a strategic partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
The move highlights Anthropic’s effort to expand in its second largest market after the United States.
Anthropic co-founder and chief executive Dario Amodei arrived in India this week to finalize the company’s expansion strategy.
Sources said Amodei will meet Ambani and other senior executives from Reliance Industries in Mumbai to discuss a potential partnership aimed at broadening access to Claude AI, the firm’s conversational assistant, across India.
“India is emerging as a crucial hub for global AI innovation,” said Priya Bhatia, a senior analyst at Global Insight Partners. “Anthropic’s India office signals its long term commitment to working with local enterprises and developers.”
The Bengaluru office, expected to be announced Thursday, will focus on helping developers and startups integrate Claude’s AI capabilities into business applications.
India’s growing importance in the AI ecosystem is driven by its massive internet population over one billion users and a thriving tech startup scene.
According to data from Similarweb, India contributes the second highest share of traffic to Claude.ai after the United States. Several Indian startups already use Claude models in products serving both domestic and global clients.
Anthropic’s interest in India aligns with Reliance Industries’ expanding ambitions in AI. In August, Reliance launched a new unit called Reliance Intelligence, partnering with Google and Meta to develop AI infrastructure and enterprise tools.
The conglomerate had previously considered a collaboration with OpenAI, which introduced a ChatGPT plan under $5 in India and plans to open an office in New Delhi in 2025.
The Reliance OpenAI partnership was expected to be revealed during Sam Altman’s scheduled India visit last month, which was postponed. Reliance Industries has not responded to requests for comment on the Anthropic discussions.
Analysts say the Anthropic India office will strengthen the company’s access to developers and talent in the region.
“Bengaluru offers Anthropic proximity to top engineering talent and a rapidly growing startup ecosystem,” said Anirudh Menon, AI policy researcher at the Centre for Digital Economy.
“A local presence allows Anthropic to customize its AI products for regional markets and build trust through collaboration.”
Anthropic’s approach differs from OpenAI’s, which is focusing on policy and sales operations from New Delhi. Anthropic’s developer first strategy aims to deepen engagement with startups using Claude AI India tools.
The company’s traction in India has accelerated rapidly. According to Appfigures, downloads of the Claude app rose 48% year over year in September, reaching about 767,000 installs. Consumer spending increased 572%, totaling $195,000 in the same month.
By comparison, US users spent $2.5 million in September, showing India’s growing but still emerging revenue potential. Globally, the app recorded a 74% increase in downloads and 546% growth in spending.
“These figures show India’s role as a high growth market for AI apps,” said Bhatia. “Even though spending is lower than the US, the adoption rate is impressive.”
Indian entrepreneurs welcomed the announcement, seeing it as a step toward democratizing access to AI.
“This is exciting for developers,” said Ravi Patel, co-founder of CodeVerse AI in Bengaluru. “Claude AI’s advanced reasoning models can help us build smarter, localized solutions.” Others emphasized the need for ethical AI deployment.
Global AI firms must align with India’s upcoming AI governance framework, said Ritika Sharma, policy analyst at Digital India Foundation. “Compliance with data privacy and transparency standards will be crucial.”
Amodei is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top lawmakers in New Delhi to discuss AI cooperation and investment.
Alongside him, Anthropic EMEA head Guillaume Princen and startups chief Daniel Delaney will hold sessions with venture funds like Accel and Lightspeed to guide Indian startups on leveraging Claude AI.
Experts believe Anthropic’s expansion will spur innovation across sectors such as education, healthcare, fintech, and enterprise automation.
“The Anthropic India office could become a catalyst for India’s AI revolution,” said Menon. “By empowering local startups, Anthropic ensures its models evolve in response to real world challenges.”
Anthropic’s move to establish a Bengaluru office and explore partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries marks a pivotal step in the company’s international growth.
With India’s expanding AI adoption and robust developer community, the collaboration could reshape how artificial intelligence tools are deployed across the subcontinent.
As competition among AI giants intensifies, India stands poised to become a key battleground and innovation hub in the global race for AI leadership.