Billionaire Ambani wants AI in every call, app and home

As India searches for a homegrown competitor in the global AI race, billionaire Mukesh Ambani is positioning Reliance Industries as a national champion, offering AI services for phone calls, mobile apps and connected homes.

At its annual shareholders meeting on Friday, the Mumbai-based group announced Jio Call Agent, an AI-powered assistant that can join phone calls to record conversations, create summaries and perform tasks such as booking cabs, ordering food and making reservations. The service, which can be activated by saying “Hey Jio”, is expected to launch later this year to Jio’s 500 million-plus 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. This approach could reduce consumers’ reliance on third-party communication assistant apps and give Reliance a strong distribution advantage in an increasingly crowded AI market.

Reliance also unveiled an AI-powered version of its MyJio app that can perform tasks on behalf of users, from activating eSIMs to choosing roaming plans, through natural language requests. The company also 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 reflect a broader industry push toward ambient AI assistants for the home, an area that companies including Amazon and Google are exploring.

These announcements represent the next phase of Reliance’s AI ambitions as India seeks to build indigenous capabilities in a field largely dominated by American and Chinese technology companies. The push comes on the heels of 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 should not just be a consumer of AI created elsewhere. Rather, it should become an innovator, adopter and global leader in AI,” the 69-year-old Ambani said.

Reliance is boosting 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 shareholders 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 across multiple Indian languages ​​and cater to local needs, the company said.

The shareholder meeting also brought a big development for investors awaiting Jio’s debut in the stock market. Ambani said Jio Platforms’ board has approved a draft prospectus for an initial public offering that will include a fresh issue of up to 270 million shares, according to an exchange filing.

The ads 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 AI models or shared with technology partners.

Reliance’s AI ambitions come at a time when Indian companies remain heavily dependent on foreign AI models and cloud service providers. Recent restrictions on access to some of Anthropic’s latest models have highlighted this dependency, illustrating how decisions made abroad can impact startups and companies building AI products in India — the kind of supply chain risk that is pushing Indian conglomerates toward building their own range rather than leasing someone else’s products.

Last week, Reliance announced its collaboration 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 pursuing 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 largest companies race to secure a leadership role in the country’s AI future.

However, for Reliance, the risks are particularly high; It’s gearing up for Jio’s long-awaited stock market debut and needing new growth engines, with the group’s shares down about 17% this year.