Reliance Jio to invest $110 billion in AI datacenters over seven years

Reliance Jio to spend $110 billion on AI datacenters

Indian telecom giant Reliance Jio has announced a plan to invest $110 billion over seven years to build datacenters for artificial intelligence workloads. Company chairman Mukesh Ambani made the announcement at India's AI Impact Summit, framing the investment as "patient, disciplined, nation-building capital."

Ambani stated the goal is to deliver AI services with the same "extreme affordability" that Jio brought to India's mobile market. He argued that the high cost of computing power is the primary constraint on AI development today.

"India cannot afford to rent intelligence," Ambani said. "Therefore, we will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did the cost of data."

Jio's history of market disruption

Jio's promise carries weight because of its track record. The company launched its mobile network in 2016 and used aggressive pricing to rapidly gain market share.

Its early plans offered unlimited data at prices far below competitors, helping it win 100 million subscribers within six months. Jio later introduced ultra-low-cost phones, including a $12 model, to drive adoption.

The strategy was overwhelmingly successful. Jio is now India's top telecom operator with 514 million subscribers, controlling 51 percent of the market. India now has some of the world's cheapest mobile data plans as a result of this competition.

• Launched mobile network in 2016.
• Gained 100 million subscribers in six months via cheap, unlimited data plans.
• Now holds 514 million subscribers and 51% market share.

OpenAI and Tata Group announce parallel plans

Jio's massive investment was not the only major AI news at the summit. OpenAI announced it is establishing a formal presence in India, where it already claims 100 million users.

In a related move, OpenAI will build "sovereign AI" capabilities for India by becoming a tenant in datacenters operated by the Tata Group. The industrial conglomerate has pledged to build 100MW of AI infrastructure for OpenAI, with plans to potentially scale that to 1GW.

Jio also revealed a partnership that will see some of its products include OpenAI's search service, indicating collaboration alongside competition.

Global tech leaders gather in India

The summit attracted significant attention from global tech executives and political leaders. Attendees included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

17 national leaders and three deputy leaders were also in attendance. Notably, Bill Gates canceled his appearance; reports suggested he wanted to avoid having his past association with Jeffrey Epstein become a distraction at the event.

Indian lawmakers have hailed the summit as a moment that establishes the nation as a future AI leader. This claim is ambitious, as India currently lacks significant AI infrastructure and has not yet produced a major global AI company, despite being a major source of tech talent.

Can Jio democratize AI like it did mobile data?

The central question is whether Jio can replicate its mobile strategy for AI. The company plans to build multiple gigawatts of datacenter capacity, promising reliability and scale alongside low cost.

Given Jio's dominance in Indian telecoms, it has a massive existing customer base to which it could market affordable AI services. This positions it uniquely to shape how AI is consumed in the world's most populous country.

"This is not speculative investment. It is not purchasing valuation," Ambani emphasized. The $110 billion bet is that Jio can once again use scale and low cost to own a foundational layer of a new technological era in India.