Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told delegates at India’s AI Impact Summit 2026 that the world is approaching a transformative moment in which AI systems will surpass most humans in most cognitive tasks, creating unprecedented opportunities to tackle disease and poverty but also raising serious risks of misuse and economic disruption.
Amodei described the rapid progress in AI capabilities as following an exponential curve over the past decade, comparable to a “Moore’s law for intelligence.”
“The energy and ambition in this room and across India are incredible. I’ve been spending the last few days meeting with Indian builders and enterprises, and the energy to build together here is palpable, unlike anywhere else,” Amodei said. He added that only a small number of years remain before AI models exceed the cognitive abilities of most humans across most domains.
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“There are only a small number of years for AI models to surpass the cognitive capabilities of most humans for most things. We’re increasingly close to what I’ve called a country of geniuses in a data center, a set of AI agents that are more capable than most humans at most things and can coordinate at superhuman speed,” he said.
Amodei said that such a development was not unprecedented, and that it carries both opportunity and risk. Amodei said that on the positive side, there is potential for AI to cure diseases that have remained intractable for thousands of years, dramatically improving human health.
“We have the potential to cure diseases that have been incurable for thousands of years to radically improve human health and to lift billions out of poverty, including the global South, and create a better world for everyone,” Amodei said.
Amodei also said during the summit that India will have a central role in shaping how AI evolves, from unlocking economic growth to managing emerging risks. He said that technologies and governance practices pioneered in India have set benchmarks for the Global South and are helping innovation and humanitarian efforts.
Anthropic recently opened its first office in India. The company’s office in Bengaluru is its second in Asia after the one in Tokyo, and will be led by tech veteran Irina Ghoshe. Anthropic said it will hire local talent and offer applied AI expertise to help enterprises, digital natives, and startups scale Claude-powered solutions tailored to Indian needs. India also happens to be the second largest market for Claude, Anthropic’s AI assistant.