‘Will repeat with AI what we did with Jio’: Mukesh Ambani to NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang

At the NVIDIA Summit 2024 in Mumbai, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani expressed his ambition to replicate the success of Jio in the artificial intelligence space, promising to make AI both accessible and affordable for every Indian.

In a conversation with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Ambani emphasised the need to build AI infrastructure that requires no upgrades to phones or computers, ensuring high-quality AI services without burdening consumers. The two companies are collaborating to establish state-of-the-art AI infrastructure in India.

“We as Indians have the raw talent. You spoke of training 200,000 IT professionals and upskilling them into AI, I believe we have millions. India has become home to several companies across the world. One of the fastest-growing industries in the country is GCCs or Global Competency Centres. From aerospace designing and research to research in pharmaceuticals, we are doing everything. I’m sure that you are planning to develop chips in India. India is fast becoming an innovation hub. We are not just the manufacturers of the world,” said Ambani.

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Ambani stressed that Reliance’s partnership with NVIDIA aims to deliver the best technology from the start. Referring to NVIDIA’s cutting-edge GB200 systems, he shared that he had been waiting for this advanced technology to mature, as he only wanted to deploy the very best.

Reliance is setting up gigawatt-scale AI data centres in Jamnagar, powered entirely by green energy, with plans to expand the infrastructure as technology evolves.

“We were waiting for NVIDIA’s GB200 processors to mature, it was important for India to start with the absolute best that is available. We are planning a massive scale-up in Jamnagar. We are building a capacity of 1 Gigawatts, which can then be expanded to multiple Gigawatts at the same location. We already have the green power so that we don’t have to rely on anyone else for power,” added Ambani.

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The telecom tycoon credited Jio for revolutionising India’s digital landscape, transforming the nation’s connectivity infrastructure from 158th to first place globally within just eight years. Highlighting Jio’s achievements, Ambani noted that the company’s data volume now rivals that of US giants AT&T and Verizon combined.

“The most satisfying in all of this is that as Jio, we will be delivering 16 exabytes of data this year. On an average, a person in the US pays about $5 dollars a GB, globally, they pay $3.5, but in India, Jio delivers data at $0.15 or 15 cents a GB,” he added.

Ambani believes this robust digital foundation positions India to become one of the largest AI markets in the world. He pointed to India’s youthful population — where the average age is under 35—and the country’s “raw gene pool and youth power” as key drivers of this transformation. He also underscored Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in converting India into a digital society, which has laid the groundwork for rapid innovation across sectors.

India is already emerging as a global innovation hub, with thriving industries in space research, pharmaceuticals, and chip manufacturing. Ambani remarked that India’s fastest-growing sector is its global competency centres, which are increasingly leading the charge in advanced research and development.

Huang echoed this sentiment, reflecting on his discussions with PM Modi, where the Indian leader emphasised that India should not have to export its data to import intelligence. With around 10,000 engineers now working for NVIDIA in India, Huang sees the country evolving from a back-office for global IT services into a powerhouse for AI and next-gen innovation.

As Ambani sees it, this new wave of AI won’t just benefit India’s domestic market but will position the country to export intelligent solutions worldwide. “In the future,” he remarked, “Indians won’t just export CEOs—they’ll export talent and innovation on a scale the world has never seen.”