India tops technical Claude usage, second-largest market for Anthropic: Top exec

India ranks second globally in the usage of Anthropic’s artificial intelligence (AI) model, Claude, trailing only the US, according to Guillaume Princen, head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) at Anthropic. 50% of Claude’s usage in India is for technical functions such as user interface (UI) development, code debugging, and software creation. This compares to 30% technical usage worldwide.

“We’re opening an office in Bengaluru in Q1 2026. You will see more of us because we really want to have a local presence. We will have teams across the board to support founders and other parts of the community,” Princen said at a developer event hosted with venture capital fund Accel.

Princen added that the scale and activity of India’s startup ecosystem make it a key market for Anthropic in both user base and developer engagement. “Startups account for 33% of Claude Code conversations in India, positioning Anthropic as a preferred partner for India’s entrepreneurial ecosystem,” he said.


According to Anthropic’s Economic Index released in September, India’s share of Claude usage stands at 7.2%, compared to 21.6% for the US.

Anthropic recently launched Claude 4.5, which Princen said has achieved high accuracy compared to peers. He added that the company’s new Software Development Kit (SDK) and plugin features are now available to developers and are intended to enable new agentic workflows.

For Indian users, Anthropic plans to maintain and expand API credits, work with local partners such as Accel, and adapt rate limits to support developer needs. The company also aims to engage with Indian organisations across sectors like education, healthcare, and agriculture to make Claude accessible in regional languages.

“Anthropic’s commitment is to develop responsible AI systems that drive social benefit and economic growth across the world. That is our mission,” Princen said.

Last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei laid out additional plans for the company’s India expansion. This follows recent announcements by rivals OpenAI and Perplexity about growing their operations in India.

“We want to partner with all kinds of businesses, from startups to global outsourcing firms and system integrators, to help them use Anthropic to achieve their global ambitions,” said Paul Smith, Anthropic’s chief commercial officer, in an earlier interview.