Google will offer its Gemini AI service for free to over 500 million Reliance Jio users in India, as global artificial intelligence firms double down on acquiring customers in the country.
The U.S. tech giant revealed Thursday that it had signed a pact with Reliance Intelligence, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Meta, to provide Google’s AI Pro plan, which includes Gemini 2.5 Pro, expanded access to NotebookLM for study and research, and 2 TB of cloud storage, among other things.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, said his firm aims to make India “AI-empowered” through collaborations with strategic and long-term partners such as Google. Reliance Jio is India’s largest telecom services operator.
Google services, worth 35,100 rupees per user ($396), will have a staggered roll out with early access for 18- to 25-year-old users on unlimited Jio 5G plans for for 18 months. Eventually they will be made available for free to the company’s entire customer base.
“I’m excited for how this partnership will help expand access to AI across India,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Google and Alphabet.
There are about 377 million Gen Zs in India, driving $860 billion in consumer spending in the country, and that is set to rise to $2 trillion by 2035, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group.
India has the highest number of users globally across social media platforms such as Facebook (350 million-plus), Instagram (413.8 million), video app YouTube (over 467 million) while messaging app WhatsApp has over 500 million users, making it a key market for digital services.
In July, the second largest Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel partnered with Perplexity to offer its 360 million customers free access to Perplexity Pro, which is priced at $200 per year globally.
Airtel and Perplexity followed this up with intensive campaigns on social media platforms, enlisting leading Indian influencers who posted reels promoting the use-cases for the free AI tool.
Indian telecom market is dominated by Jio and Airtel and partnerships with these telecom operators offer the opportunity for companies to expand the reach of apps and digital tools, making them available to a mass audience.
On Tuesday, OpenAI reportedly said it would make its ChatGPT Go plan free for users in India for a year, starting Nov. 4. The offer was launched in August for 399 rupees per month, and was among the most affordable subscription plans from OpenAI.
The company is rapidly expanding its presence in India, its second largest market, and plans to set up a 1 gigawatt data center in the country.
Source: CNBC