Artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic is looking to establish a foothold in India as it expands its global presence amid intensifying competition from OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta.
This move comes shortly after the company, known for its popular Claude AI models, raised $13 billion at a $183 billion post-money valuation, led by investment firm Iconiq.
Anthropic is currently seeking a country lead for India, along with other markets such as Australia and New Zealand, Korea, and Singapore, Chief Commercial Officer Paul Smith told CNBC.
Last month, OpenAI announced that it will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, underscoring the growing importance of India in the global AI landscape.
Anthropic's ambitious international plans
On September 26, Anthropic announced that it will triple its international workforce and expand its applied artificial intelligence team fivefold this year to meet the growing demand for its Claude AI models outside the United States.
The firm stated that its global customer base has grown from fewer than 1,000 business customers two years ago to over 300,000 today, representing more than 300-fold growth. Anthropic's run-rate revenue has also surged, rising from $87 million at the start of 2024 to around $1 billion at the beginning of 2025, and surpassing $5 billion by August 2025.
Nearly 80 percent of consumer Claude usage is also coming from outside the United States, with per-person usage in countries like South Korea, Australia, and Singapore outpacing that of America, as per Anthropic’s recent Economic Index report.
How big is India for Anthropic?
India is the largest market for Anthropic's Claude AI chatbot outside the United States, accounting for 7.2 percent of global usage, thanks in part to its large population. However, per-capita usage remains low, at just 0.27 times relative to the working-age population, as per the report.
Coding tasks account for over half of all Claude usage in India, compared with roughly a third globally.
Anthropic made Claude available in 95 markets, including India, in October 2023. Before that, it was only accessible in the United States and the United Kingdom. Claude’s iOS app launched in May 2024, followed by the Android app in July 2024.
Read: AI has not plateaued, we are on an exponential curve, says Anthropic’s Niki Parmar
Who is leading Anthropic's international expansion?
Anthropic has appointed former Google and Salesforce executive Chris Ciauri as Managing Director of International to spearhead its international expansion. This follows the hiring of Paul Smith as the company’s first Chief Commercial Officer in July this year.
Ciauri will join Smith's international leadership group, working alongside EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) head Guillaume Princen, Japan head Hidetoshi Tojo, and Americas head Kate Jensen to drive the firm's global go-to-market strategy and enterprise sales growth across key markets, the company said.
What are Anthropic's hiring plans?
As part of this expansion, Anthropic plans to hire for more than 100 new positions across Dublin, London, and the research-focused Zurich office, alongside new European offices to be unveiled in the coming months.
The company also plans to open its first Asia office in Tokyo and expand local operations throughout the coming year.
"The global demand for Claude is extraordinary—from financial services in London to manufacturing in Tokyo, enterprises are trusting Claude to power their mission-critical operations,” Ciauri said.
“This is a key moment for Anthropic to expand the infrastructure and partnerships needed to serve this growing international customer base,” he added.
What are Anthropic's rivals doing?
In recent months, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has intensified its focus on India, its second-largest market outside the United States. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said that India could soon become the company’s largest market for ChatGPT.
The firm introduced localised rupee pricing along with a more affordable tier, ChatGPT Go, priced at Rs 399 per month.
Srinivas Narayanan, who recently assumed the role of CTO of B2B Applications at OpenAI, told Moneycontrol in a June interview that the company is working to make its offerings more affordable for developers in India, as part of a broader push to make AI accessible globally.
Over the past year, Google and Meta have also aggressively courted Indian startups and enterprises with their range of AI models and tools.
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