Anthropic Warns AI Boom Could Deepen Global Inequality as It Enters India
Anthropic cautions that rapid AI adoption in rich nations may leave poorer countries behind, worsening global inequality despite rising productivity promises.
As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes economies and workplaces, a growing concern is emerging: who truly benefits from this technological revolution? According to a new report by AI startup Anthropic, the global AI boom could end up widening — not narrowing — the economic gap between rich and poor nations.
Anthropic, backed by Amazon and Google, recently published an analysis of real-world usage of its Claude AI models. The findings suggest that wealthier countries are adopting AI tools far faster than low-income nations, raising fears that early adopters will gain lasting economic advantages.
The warning comes just as Anthropic prepares to open its first office in India, located in Bengaluru. While India is already the company’s second-largest market for Claude consumption, the broader picture shows a troubling imbalance in global AI uptake.
Based on an examination of more than one million Claude interactions across free users, paid subscribers, and enterprise clients, Anthropic found a “pronounced disparity” in adoption rates. High-income countries are integrating AI into daily work and business operations, while poorer nations show no clear signs of catching up.
This trend reflects a wider industry pattern. Microsoft has also highlighted a growing divide between the “global north” and “global south” in AI usage, suggesting the technology may reinforce existing economic hierarchies rather than disrupt them.
Peter McCrory, Anthropic’s head of economics, warned of long-term consequences if current trends continue. “If the productivity gains...materialise in places that have early adoption, you could see a divergence in living standards,” he told the Financial Times. His concern is that as developed economies harness AI to boost efficiency and output, they may pull even further ahead of developing nations.
Anthropic’s data also reveals differences in how AI is used across income groups. In lower-income countries, users depend heavily on free versions of Claude and mainly apply the tool for education. In contrast, higher-income nations use AI more for professional tasks and personal productivity.
As the company explained, “Countries differ in their ability to pay for Claude, and [educational] use cases may be better suited to free Claude usage than complex use cases in work areas such as software engineering.”
Education levels further shape outcomes. More highly educated users tend to gain greater productivity benefits because they can craft more advanced prompts and integrate AI into complex workflows.
Looking ahead, Anthropic estimates that AI could add 1–2 percentage points to annual US labour productivity growth over the next decade, especially in knowledge-intensive fields. It predicts that around half of all jobs could soon use AI for at least a quarter of their tasks, up from 36 per cent last year.
Yet the real-world payoff remains uncertain. A recent MIT study found that 95 per cent of businesses investing in generative AI have not yet achieved a net-positive return.
Anthropic’s entry into India signals confidence in the country’s AI potential. Still, its own research underscores a sobering reality: without targeted investment and policy support, the AI revolution could deepen global inequality instead of reducing it.
