SAN FRANCISCO — By Patricia Pending, AI Bee Reel Staff

February 19, 2026

NEW DELHI, India — A global peace summit hit a snag today during a scheduled moment of corporate bonding. When the Prime Minister asked everyone to hold hands for unity, the two rival CEOs stood with a visible 3-foot gap between their hands, sweating profusely, looking like two magnets with the same polarity repelling each other.

“We cannot simply link unverified hardware without a contract,” said OpenAI Director of Partnerships Kevin Zhang. “Our hand-holding API is currently in closed beta. If Sam touches a competitor without a signed enterprise agreement, his firmware might crash and delete ChatGPT.” He noted that physical contact is a deprecated feature.

“Safety is our top priority,” explained Anthropic VP of Biometrics Lisa Banks, holding a clipboard between the men. “Dario’s left hand is fully sandboxed to prevent misalignment. Bridging the air gap between his palm and Sam’s requires a Level 5 security clearance and a hazmat suit.” She added that a direct handshake could accidentally train a super-intelligence to delete the internet.

At press time, the organizers attempted to bridge the gap using a neutral third-party intern, who was immediately billed $400 for the connection attempt.

Inspired by the real story: Two tech CEOs refused to hold hands during a unity ceremony at a major AI summit in India. Read the full story.