Reliance Industries partners with Google and Meta to accelerate AI push, announce $100 million joint venture with Meta

Reliance Industries, India’s prominent conglomerate, has announced strategic partnerships with tech giants Google and Meta to accelerate its foray into artificial intelligence (AI). At the annual shareholders’ meeting on Friday, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani revealed plans to list Reliance Jio, the country’s leading mobile network operator, in the first half of 2026.

Ambani stated, “A decade ago, digital services became a growth engine for Reliance; the potential with AI is just as vast, if not more.” In line with this ambition, he introduced a new subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence.

During the meeting, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in a pre-recorded video, expressed that Reliance would leverage Google’s AI and cloud computing capabilities to foster innovation across sectors like energy, retail, telecommunications, and financial services. The partnership will establish a dedicated cloud region in India, powered by clean energy from Reliance Industries and connected through Jio’s network.

Separately, Ambani announced a joint venture with Meta to leverage the tech group’s open-source AI models and deliver “sovereign, enterprise-ready AI for India.” Under this collaboration, Reliance Industries and Meta have committed an initial investment of $100 million to capitalize the unit, with Reliance holding 70% and Meta holding 30%.

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the partnership as “a significant step towards ensuring that everyone has access to AI and eventually super intelligence.”

These partnerships mark a deeper engagement from U.S. tech titans in India, mirroring the country’s burgeoning economic growth. Previously, both Google and Meta have shown interest in Reliance, with Google investing $4.5 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020, and Meta investing $5.7 billion into Jio Platforms’ parent company the same year.

Jio Platforms oversees a variety of brands, including its rapidly growing telecommunications business, Reliance Jio. The partnerships with Google and Meta come at a time of potential complexity in U.S.-India relations, as U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on India due to its purchases of Russian oil.