India should not be a mere consumer of AI created elsewhere. It must become a creator, adopter, and a global leader in AI. Mukesh Ambani at 69 said this at Reliance shareholder meeting where he introduced Jio Call Agent that joins phone calls to transcribe conversations and book cabs and order food. The name is “Hey Jio”. Service launches later this year. Five hundred million users. Not an app. Built into the telecom network itself.
For years India has been told it has to import AI from Silicon Valley or Beijing. Now Mukesh Ambani is betting 500 million Jio users won’t need to.
Friday at Reliance annual shareholder meeting the Mumbai conglomerate announced Jio Call Agent. An AI assistant that joins phone calls. Transcribes what people say. Makes summaries. Books cabs when you ask. Orders food. Makes restaurant reservations. You say “Hey Jio” and it works. Later this year it launches.
The difference is where it lives. Jio is embedding the assistant directly into its telecom network instead of offering a standalone app you download. AI assistance becomes a native feature of phone calls themselves. That could reduce consumer reliance on third-party call assistant apps and give Reliance massive distribution advantage in crowded market.
Here is what matters. AI hidden inside the network. Not something you search for. Not an app that needs updates. When you say Hey Jio during a call it transcribes what was said books your cab orders your dinner. Five hundred million people get intelligence without leaving their phone. Reliance skipping Silicon Valley race entirely by making AI part of infrastructure.
MyJio app now has AI that does things for users. Activates eSIMs when you ask. Selects roaming plans through natural language. TeleFrame is a home display using AI agents that proactively show weather alerts and schedules and household reminders. Amazon and Google pushing similar ambient AI for homes.
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Last year Reliance Intelligence launched. The conglomerate aims to develop AI infrastructure and services for consumers businesses and governments across 22 Indian languages. JioHealthIQ came out. JioLearnIQ. JioKrishiIQ. AI Vyapar. Products designed to operate across multiple languages and cater to local needs.
Partnerships with Google Meta and Nvidia. Earlier this year Reliance announced plans to invest 110 billion dollars in AI infrastructure.
Questions about user data though. Reliance said services operate with user consent but did not address whether data from products could train AI models or get shared with technology partners. Details remain unclear.
Recent restrictions on access to some Anthropic models underscored India’s dependency on foreign AI. The supply chain risk pushing Indian conglomerates toward building their own stack. Last week Reliance announced Meta collaboration to establish AI data center in Gujarat.
Tata Consultancy Services Infosys and rival Adani Group expanded AI initiatives too. India’s largest corporations racing to secure leading role in country’s AI future.
Stakes high for Reliance. Jio Platforms board approved draft prospectus for IPO including up to 270 million shares according to stock exchange filing. Conglomerate shares down about 17 percent this year. Needs new growth drivers.
Services operate with user consent but questions remain about how widely these AI features can actually scale across India’s diverse linguistic landscape.
