As India searches for a homegrown contender within the international synthetic intelligence race, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is positioning Reliance Industries as a nationwide champion, rolling out AI providers for telephone calls, cellular apps, and linked properties.
At its annual shareholder assembly on Friday, the Mumbai-based conglomerate introduced Jio Name Agent, an AI assistant that may be part of telephone calls to transcribe conversations, generate summaries, and carry out duties comparable to reserving cabs, ordering meals, and making reservations. The service, which might be activated by saying “Hey Jio,” is anticipated to launch later this yr for Jio’s greater than 500 million customers.
By embedding the service immediately into its telecom community moderately than providing it as a standalone app, Jio is betting AI help can develop into a local characteristic of telephone calls. The strategy may cut back customers’ reliance on third-party call-assistant apps and provides Reliance a robust distribution benefit in an more and more crowded AI market.
Reliance additionally unveiled an AI-powered model of its MyJio app that may carry out duties on behalf of customers, from activating eSIMs to deciding on roaming plans, via natural-language requests. The corporate additional launched TeleFrame, a house show that makes use of AI brokers to proactively floor data and proposals, comparable to climate alerts, schedules, and family reminders. The product seems to echo a broader trade push towards ambient AI assistants for the house, an space being explored by firms together with Amazon and Google.
The bulletins mark the subsequent part of Reliance’s AI ambitions as India seeks to construct home capabilities in a discipline largely dominated by U.S. and Chinese language know-how firms. The push follows the launch of Reliance Intelligence final yr, via which the conglomerate goals to develop AI infrastructure and providers for customers, companies, and governments, together with functions that help 22 Indian languages.
“India shouldn’t be a mere shopper of AI created elsewhere. It should develop into a creator, adopter, and a world chief in AI,” Ambani, 69, stated.
Reliance has been ramping up its AI ambitions via partnerships with Google, Meta, and Nvidia. Earlier this yr, the corporate introduced plans to make investments $110 billion in AI infrastructure because it seeks to ascertain itself as a significant participant in India’s rising AI ecosystem.
On the shareholder assembly, Reliance additionally unveiled a set of AI providers for healthcare, training, agriculture, and small companies. The merchandise, branded JioHealthIQ, JioLearnIQ, JioKrishiIQ, and AI Vyapar, are designed to function throughout a number of Indian languages and cater to native wants, the corporate stated.
The shareholder assembly additionally introduced a significant improvement for traders awaiting Jio’s inventory market debut. Ambani stated Jio Platforms’ board had authorized a draft prospectus for an preliminary public providing that would come with a recent difficulty of as much as 270 million shares, in response to a inventory alternate submitting.
The bulletins additionally elevate questions on how Reliance will deal with consumer knowledge because it expands AI providers throughout telephone calls, cellular apps, and linked properties. Whereas the corporate stated the providers would function with consumer consent, it didn’t reply questions on whether or not knowledge generated via the merchandise may very well be used to coach AI fashions or shared with know-how companions.
Reliance’s AI ambitions come as Indian firms stay closely reliant on overseas AI fashions and cloud suppliers. Latest restrictions on entry to a few of Anthropic’s newest fashions have underscored that dependency, exhibiting how selections made abroad can have an effect on startups and companies constructing AI merchandise in India — the type of supply-chain threat that’s pushing Indian conglomerates towards constructing their very own stack moderately than renting another person’s.
Final week, Reliance introduced a collaboration with Meta to ascertain an AI knowledge middle within the western state of Gujarat, constructing on Meta’s earlier funding in Jio Platforms and a three way partnership launched final yr to develop AI options for enterprise clients in India and abroad markets.
Reliance isn’t alone in pursuing AI alternatives. Tata Consultancy Providers, Infosys, and rival Adani Group have additionally expanded their AI initiatives and partnerships with international gamers, together with Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI, as India’s largest companies race to safe a number one position within the nation’s AI future.
Nonetheless, for Reliance, the stakes are significantly excessive; it’s making ready Jio for a long-awaited inventory market debut and wishes new progress drivers, with the conglomerate’s shares down about 17% this yr.
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