Nearly a decade ago, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) initiated its digital transformation, pivoting from its legacy oil and gas business to the telecom sector. The launch of Jio fundamentally altered the company’s path and rewrote India’s digital narrative.

Fast forward to 2025, Reliance is now raising its tech ambitions, stepping into the artificial intelligence (AI) age while preparing to take Jio public.

At the conglomerate’s 48th annual general meeting (AGM), RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani confirmed plans to list Jio by mid-2026. This would mark the first public listing of a major Reliance business since Reliance Petroleum in 2006.

The possibility of a Jio IPO has been discussed for some time. Ambani had first hinted at it in 2019, saying it was on the cards. With the speculation of Jio going public finally turning into a concrete plan, Reliance is turning its attention to the next major technological wave – AI.

While last year’s AGM made a brief mention of the emerging technology, 2025 featured the debut of a more substantial initiative — a new, wholly owned subsidiary named Reliance Intelligence.

Now, before we dive into RIL’s big AI play, let’s take a quick look at the top stories from our newsroom this week:

OpenAI’s Localisation Problem: For OpenAI, India is the ultimate testing ground – a data feast of a billion-plus users and one of the biggest markets globally. But the government, playing gatekeeper, is demanding they go open-source and keep data close to home. Will the big tech bend the knee?

The Great Indian Gaming Divide: India’s new online gaming law spells ‘game over’ for real-money gaming platforms, but it’s a win for esports and game studios. It could act as the cheat code that finally brings in big investments and legitimacy, giving Indian studios the chance to build original titles and cultural exports.

Dream11 Bets On FanCode: India’s $12 Bn RMG sector was razed to the rubble last week. While most players are scrambling, Dream11 has a secret weapon. Its streaming ‘sidekick’, FanCode, might just be the unlikely hero that saves the day.

Reliance Bets On Intelligence

Reliance Intelligence is built on four pillars — data, computing power, applications, and talent — each serving as a fundamental building block of an AI ecosystem that the company is trying to shape for scale and impact.

Here is a quick look at Reliance’s four-pronged approach:

Firstly, Reliance intends to build India’s next-generation AI infrastructure. This involves developing gigawatt-scale, AI-compatible data centres powered by renewable energy to support........

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