As India searches for a local contender in the global AI race, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is positioning Reliance Industries as a national champion, deploying AI services for phone calls, mobile apps and connected homes.
in your annual meeting of shareholders On Friday, the Mumbai-based conglomerate announced Jio Call Agent, an AI assistant that can join phone calls to transcribe conversations, generate summaries and perform tasks like booking cabs, ordering food and making reservations. The service, which can be activated by saying “Hello Jio”, is expected to launch later this year for Jio’s more than 500 million 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 a native feature of phone calls. The approach could reduce consumers’ dependence on third-party call assistant apps and give Reliance a powerful distribution advantage in an increasingly crowded AI market.
Reliance also introduced an AI-powered version of its MyJio app that can perform tasks on behalf of users, from activating eSIM to selecting roaming plans, through natural language requests. The company also introduced TeleFrame, a home display that uses artificial intelligence 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 AI ambient assistants for the home, an area being explored by companies such as 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 American and Chinese technology companies. The push continues launch of Reliance Intelligence last year, through which the conglomerate aims to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure and services for consumers, businesses and governments, including applications that support 22 Indian languages.
“India should not be a mere consumer of AI created elsewhere. It should become a creator, adopter and global leader in AI,” Ambani, 69, said.
Reliance has been stepping up its AI ambitions through partnerships with Google, Goaland NVIDIA. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to invest $110 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure as it seeks to establish itself as a major player in India’s emerging AI ecosystem.
At the shareholders meeting, Reliance also unveiled a suite of AI services for healthcare, education, agriculture and small businesses. The products, branded as JioHealthIQ, JioLearnIQ, JioKrishiIQ and AI Vyapar, are designed to work in multiple Indian languages and meet local needs, the company said.
The shareholders meeting also represented great news for investors. waiting for Jio’s stock market debut. Ambani said Jio Platforms’ board of directors had approved a draft prospectus for an initial public offering that would include a fresh issue of up to 270 million shares, according to a stock exchange filing.
The announcements also raise questions about how Reliance will handle user data as it expands AI services across phone calls, mobile apps and connected homes. While the company said the services would operate with user consent, it did not answer 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 at a time when Indian companies continue to rely heavily on foreign AI models and cloud providers. Recent access restrictions Some of Anthropic’s latest models have highlighted that dependence, showing how decisions made abroad can affect startups and businesses building AI products in India – the kind of supply chain risk that is pushing Indian conglomerates to build their own stack instead of renting someone else’s.
Last week, Reliance announced a collaboration with Meta to establish an AI data center in the western state of Gujarat, building on Meta’s earlier investment in Jio Platforms and a joint venture launched last year to develop artificial intelligence solutions for enterprise customers in India and overseas markets.
Reliance is not alone in pursuing AI opportunities. Tata Consulting Services, infosysand rival Adani Group They have also expanded their AI initiatives and partnerships with global players, including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, as India’s largest corporations compete to secure a leadership role in the country’s AI future.
For Reliance, however, the stakes are high; is preparing Jio for a long-awaited stock market debut and needs new growth drivers, with the conglomerate’s shares falling about 17% this year.
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