Plus, Google’s provocative AI democratization move — partnering with Reliance Industries. To sweeten the deal, they are currently providing eligible Jio users in India a complimentary 18-month subscription to their AI Pro service. This collaboration aims at reaching India’s fast-growing base of internet users, which just crossed a billion. This remarkable number makes India the world’s second-largest internet market.
India’s growing appetite for cutting-edge AI technology makes it one of the most marketable targets for foreign technology companies. The country is one of the most lucrative consumer markets for AI applications. It includes cutting-edge technologies such as Google’s Nano Banana, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. As the planet’s most populous nation, India presents a unique AI adoption opportunity. That has led major tech firms to invest heavily in the area and has left the region vulnerable.
As a result of this collaboration, Jio users will now receive access to Google’s AI Pro subscription, which is worth ₹35,100 (~$396). This new offer expands on last year’s similar Connecting Communities initiative. Through this partnership, Google provided Indian students a free one year subscription to its AI Pro plan.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said he was excited by the partnership.
“Today’s announcement will put Google’s cutting-edge AI tools in the hands of consumers, businesses, and India’s vibrant developer community,” – Sundar Pichai
Reliance, AI’s parent company, is in the process of shoring up its AI infrastructure. They’re working with big tech companies including Google and Meta to do it. Reliance’s recently formed subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence, is likely to be key to efforts along this line. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, called AI a potential “game changer” for India.
“Through our collaboration with strategic and long-term partners like Google, we aim to make India not just AI-enabled but AI-empowered – where every citizen and enterprise can harness intelligent tools to create, innovate and grow,” – Mukesh Ambani
The partnership between Google and Reliance comes at a time when other significant players are making strides in the Indian market. OpenAI is rolling out free access to its sub-$5 ChatGPT Go plan for all users in India. This amazing deal starts November 4th! This announcement follows shortly after the ChatGPT Go plan’s base-level tier expanded to 17 countries spread throughout Asia. This decision marks a new wave of interest in AI solutions seen throughout the region.
Just a few weeks ago, Perplexity teamed up with Bharti Airtel. This collaboration gives free access to Perplexity Pro to Airtel’s 360 million subscribers.
In other ways, the nation hasn’t seen any of these advances lead to a significant, homegrown, AI breakthrough. From Amazon to Google, U.S. tech giants are betting big on India. To them, it is the obvious next big frontier for more widespread AI adoption, rich data collection, and model refinement.
The AI Pro monthly subscription promotion was to have ended on September 15. Its aim was to make Google’s best ilk AI tools available to more people and organizations in India – from students to startups and more. The big global tech firms are making historic investments into India’s digital landscape. The partnership between Google and Reliance is a significant development in the effort to democratize access to state-of-the-art AI tools.