How Mukesh Ambani plans to shape India’s AI future?

• Reliance forms partnerships with Google Cloud and Meta to catch up with US and China in the AI race.
• Google Cloud to set up a massive data centre in the western city of Jamnagar while Meta to deliver enterprise-grade, Llama-powered AI solutions.

It was a day to remember at Reliance Industries’ 48th annual general meeting—a Friday buzzing with announcements, ambition, and the unmistakable energy of Mukesh Ambani himself.

There he was, at the heart of India’s business arena, unveiling a plan that sounded both futuristic and deeply personal: he would build the backbone of India’s artificial intelligence dreams. The world’s eyes—and those of every tech enthusiast—seemed to follow his every word.

Ambani’s vision? A new subsidiary called Reliance Intelligence, poised to become India’s own engine for AI innovation. The audacity was unmistakable; he wanted nothing less than to match countries like the US and China in the AI race.

“Reliance Intelligence will be the home for world-class researchers, engineers, designers, and product builders,” Ambani declared. In that moment, the promise of blending fast-paced research with rigorous engineering felt palpable.

The plan thundered to life with a high-profile handshake: Reliance’s strategic partnership with Google Cloud. Together, they would set up a dedicated AI cloud infrastructure, starting with a massive data centre in the western city of Jamnagar.

Bold new horizon

Leveraging Jio’s pervasive network and Reliance’s energy empire, this new backbone would serve enterprises, developers, startups, and government offices—all eager to plug into India’s AI future.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and himself a son of Indian soil, appeared—if only on screen—to bless the union. “Google Cloud is not only powering Reliance’s mission-critical workloads,” he enthused, “but we’re collaborating on advanced AI initiatives. And this is just the beginning.”

The details of Google’s investment remained veiled, but the partnership itself painted a bold new horizon for both companies.

Ambani’s masterstroke didn’t stop there. He announced a joint venture with Meta—parent of Facebook and WhatsApp, and a marquee tech investor in Jio since 2020. The plan: to pool technical muscle and capital (Rs8.55 billion, with a 70:30 Reliance-Meta split) to deliver enterprise-grade, Llama-powered AI solutions.

This platform would give Indian companies the tools to deploy, manage, and customize generative AI for uses spanning marketing, sales, IT support, and finance. Pre-configured solutions and a buffet of AI tools would help businesses leapfrog into tomorrow.

Reliance courting OpenAI

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, chimed in with his own promise: “With Reliance, we’re putting Llama models into real-world use.” But, as always, deals are not made at lightning pace—the joint venture still awaits the regulatory green light, with closure expected in late 2025.

The story swirled with even more intrigue when whispers emerged of Reliance courting OpenAI. The AI darling had freshly launched its affordable ChatGPT subscription for India and was busy planting its flag in New Delhi. Sources winked that an announcement might come during Sam Altman’s next visit to India—a plot line still shrouded in secrecy.

Meanwhile, rival Bharti Airtel had not been idle—offering its 360 million subscribers a year’s worth of Perplexity Pro and keeping the AI fires burning on its patch.

Reliance’s credentials in the digital game were already sparkling. The company had inked earlier deals with Microsoft on Azure for Indian businesses and watched its consumer-focused JioAICloud chalk up 40 million users. Now, the service threw in 100GB of free storage, new voice search, and a playful AI Create Hub—think photo transformations and video collages, all at the tap of a finger.

But Ambani always aimed to dazzle. At the AGM, he paraded AI-powered JioFrames smart glasses—snap-on, stylish, and India’s answer to global gadgets like Ray-Ban Meta and Snap’s Spectacles. And the streaming platform JioHotstar?

With over 600 million users (300 million paying!) just three months into its launch, it had become an AI showcase. Features like the “Riya” voice assistant and real-time content translation using AI-voice cloning and lip-syncing now brought movies to every corner of India in a tongue people could call their own.

The feel on the ground? India was not just participating in the AI revolution—it was beginning to shape it. From Gujarat’s data centers to boardrooms across the world, Mukesh Ambani’s push set the stage for a new digital story—one built on vision, partnerships, and a belief that India’s billion-strong heart could dream even bigger.