India Strengthens Its Position in Global AI Race as Anthropic Opens Bengaluru Office

India’s growing influence in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem received a significant boost as Anthropic announced the launch of its new office in Bengaluru during the India AI Impact Summit. The expansion reflects the country’s rapid emergence as a major technology hub, with India now becoming the second-largest global market for the company’s AI assistant Claude, after the United States.

The announcement underscores how India is transitioning from being primarily an IT services destination to a core participant in next-generation AI innovation. With a large developer base, strong digital infrastructure, and increasing enterprise adoption, the country is attracting major global investments in artificial intelligence technologies.

Global and Indian stock markets were rattled this week after US artificial intelligence firm, Anthropic, released a new AI tool. File image/Reuters | Firstpost

India’s Developer Community Driving Advanced AI Usage

One of the most notable aspects of India’s AI growth is the intensity of technical engagement by developers. According to company insights, a substantial portion of Claude’s usage in India involves advanced engineering tasks such as coding, debugging, mathematical analysis, and building production-level applications. This trend is significantly higher than global averages, indicating that Indian developers are not merely experimenting with AI tools but actively integrating them into professional workflows.

India’s startup ecosystem is also playing an important role in this expansion. Technology startups are increasingly embedding AI into product development, automation systems, and decision-making processes. The scale of India’s engineering talent pool makes the country an attractive environment for companies seeking both innovation and real-world deployment opportunities.

Expanding Enterprise Partnerships Across Key Sectors

Anthropic’s India expansion is accompanied by collaborations with organisations across multiple industries. Companies such as Air India are using AI tools to accelerate software development and improve operational efficiency, while technology firms like Cognizant are deploying AI solutions across large employee bases to modernise legacy systems and streamline enterprise workflows.

These partnerships reflect a broader shift in Indian industries toward AI-driven transformation. Enterprises are increasingly viewing artificial intelligence not only as a productivity tool but as a strategic capability that can improve competitiveness and innovation capacity.

AI for Education and Social Impact

Beyond corporate adoption, the expansion also includes initiatives focused on education and social development. Collaborations with organisations such as Pratham aim to create AI-powered learning tools that can support students through personalised assessments and adaptive learning systems. Pilot programmes are already underway, with plans for wider deployment in the coming years.

The focus on education highlights how AI adoption in India is extending beyond commercial sectors into areas that directly impact human development. Applications in agriculture, healthcare, and legal access are also being explored, reflecting the potential for AI to address large-scale societal challenges in a diverse country like India.

Bengaluru Office Signals Long-Term Commitment to India

The establishment of a Bengaluru office marks Anthropic’s second location in Asia after Tokyo and signals a long-term commitment to the Indian market. The office will serve as a hub for hiring local talent, supporting enterprise clients, and developing AI solutions tailored to regional needs, including Indian languages and sector-specific applications.

Industry observers believe that India’s combination of market scale, technical expertise, and policy interest in artificial intelligence positions it as one of the most promising regions for AI growth over the next decade. Global companies increasingly see India not just as a consumer market but as a partner in shaping the future of AI technologies.

The MGMM Outlook

The expansion of Anthropic into Bengaluru during the India AI Impact Summit reflects how India is evolving from a back-office IT services destination into a serious innovation hub in artificial intelligence. The strong engagement of Indian developers in advanced engineering tasks shows that the country is not merely consuming global AI tools but actively shaping their real-world applications. This level of technical depth, combined with a large talent pool and rapidly expanding startup ecosystem, positions India as one of the few markets capable of contributing both scale and innovation to the global AI race.

Collaborations with enterprises such as Air India and Cognizant demonstrate that AI adoption in India is moving beyond experimentation into core business transformation, while partnerships with organisations like Pratham highlight its potential for social impact in education and human development. The decision to establish a regional hub in India, following its earlier Asia presence in Tokyo, signals confidence in the country’s long-term strategic importance. The combination of market demand, engineering expertise, and growing institutional interest suggests that India is increasingly becoming a co-creator of future AI ecosystems rather than just a participant.

(Sources: OpIndia, Firstpost, Financial Express)