As India looks for a domestic contender in the global artificial intelligence race, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is positioning Reliance Industries as the national champion, launching AI services for phone calls, mobile apps and connected homes.
In his own annual meeting of shareholders On Friday, the Mumbai-based conglomerate announced Jio Call Agent, an AI assistant that can participate in phone calls to transcribe conversations, create summaries and perform tasks such as taxi booking, food ordering and reservations. The service, which can be activated by saying ‘Hey Jio’, is expected to roll out later this year to more than 500 million Jio users.
By integrating the service directly into its telecom network rather than offering it as a standalone app, Jio is betting that AI assistance can become an inherent feature of phone calls. The approach could reduce consumers’ reliance on third-party call assistant apps and give Reliance a strong distribution advantage in an increasingly crowded AI market.
Reliance also unveiled an AI-powered version of the MyJio app that can perform tasks on behalf of users, from eSIM activation to roaming plan selection, through natural language requests. The company further introduced TeleFrame, a home display that uses AI agents to proactively display information and recommendations, such as weather alerts, schedules and home reminders. The product appears to echo a broader industry push toward ambient AI assistants for the home, an area being explored by the likes of Amazon and Google.
The announcements mark the next phase of Reliance’s AI ambitions as India seeks to build domestic capabilities in a field largely dominated by US and Chinese tech companies. The push follows the launch of Reliance Intelligence last year, through which the group aims to develop AI infrastructure and services for consumers, businesses and governments, including applications that support 22 Indian languages.
“India must not be a mere consumer of artificial intelligence created elsewhere. It must become a creator, adopter and global leader in artificial intelligence,” 69-year-old Ambani said.
Reliance is ramping up its AI ambitions through partnerships with Google, Meta and Nvidia. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to invest $110 billion in AI infrastructure as it seeks to establish itself as a major player in India’s emerging AI ecosystem.
At the shareholder meeting, Reliance also unveiled a range of AI services for healthcare, education, agriculture and small businesses. The products, branded JioHealthIQ, JioLearnIQ, JioKrishiIQ and AI Vyapar, are designed to work in multiple Indian languages and cater to local needs, the company said.
The shareholders’ meeting also brought an important development for investors awaiting Jio’s IPO. Ambani said the board of Jio Platforms has approved a draft prospectus for an initial public offering that will include a fresh issue of up to 270 million shares, according to a stock market filing.
The announcements also raise questions about how Reliance will handle user data as it expands its AI services into phone calls, mobile apps and connected homes. While the company said the services would operate with user consent, it did not respond to questions about whether data generated through the products could be used to train artificial intelligence models or shared with technology partners.
Reliance’s AI ambitions come as Indian companies remain heavily dependent on foreign AI models and cloud providers. Recent restrictions on access to some of Anthropic’s latest models have underscored that dependency, showing how decisions made abroad can affect startups and businesses that make AI products in India — the kind of supply chain risk that prompts Indian groups to build their own stack rather than hire someone else.
Last week, Reliance announced a partnership with Meta to set up an AI data center in the western state of Gujarat, building on Meta’s previous investment in Jio platforms and a joint venture launched last year to develop AI solutions for enterprise customers in India and overseas markets.
Reliance is not alone in seeking AI opportunities. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and rival Adani Group have also expanded their AI initiatives and partnerships with global players including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, as India’s biggest companies vying to secure a leadership role in the country’s AI future.
However, for Reliance, the stakes are particularly high. is preparing Jio for a long-awaited stock market debut and needs new growth drivers, with the group’s shares down about 17% this year.
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