Google will provide 18-month free access to its Gemini AI service to all 505 million users of India’s Reliance Jio, marking one of the most extensive artificial intelligence partnerships between a global tech company and a telecom giant.
The move, announced on Thursday, positions India as a key battleground in the global AI expansion race, as companies vie for dominance in the world’s most populous and fastest-growing digital market.
The offer comes just weeks after Google committed to invest $15 billion in AI infrastructure capacity across India—its biggest single investment in the country. The company said the investment will go toward expanding data centers, building AI research hubs, and strengthening cloud infrastructure to support local enterprises and government projects.
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The new partnership gives Jio users free access to the advanced version of Google’s Gemini AI, which includes its image and video generation capabilities and two terabytes of cloud storage. Normally priced at 35,100 rupees (about $399), the subscription will be rolled out gradually, starting with users aged 18 to 25 on select telecom plans before expanding nationwide “in the shortest time possible,” according to Reliance.
The deal also includes AI-focused partnerships for Indian businesses, aimed at integrating Gemini’s capabilities into small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups to improve workflow automation, analytics, and customer engagement.
The rollout comes amid an explosion of AI app usage across India, where more than 900 million internet users are rapidly adopting generative AI platforms for education, content creation, and enterprise productivity. The surge has prompted authorities to draft sweeping new regulations requiring AI and social media companies to clearly label AI-generated content to combat the spread of misinformation and deepfakes.
The strategy mirrors the early playbook of global streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, which partnered with Indian telecom operators to bundle entertainment subscriptions into mobile data plans. Tech firms, by offering free AI access, are now banking on similar network effects to lock in large user bases early—particularly among India’s young, tech-savvy demographic.
Google’s move follows a growing list of competitors using India as a launchpad for aggressive AI adoption campaigns. OpenAI on Tuesday announced it would offer a year of free access to its ChatGPT Go plan to users in India starting in November. Similarly, U.S.-based AI search startup Perplexity has partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer free access to its premium plan for Airtel customers.
Analysts believe the size of India’s market, the data diversity, and the rising affordability of internet access make it the perfect environment to test and refine large-scale AI deployments.
Beyond software, global companies are also pouring billions into AI infrastructure to support this growth. In addition to Google’s $15 billion AI expansion, Amazon Web Services recently announced a $12.7 billion investment in Indian data centers by 2030. Microsoft has likewise accelerated construction of AI-capable cloud regions in Hyderabad and Pune, while OpenAI has hinted at establishing local partnerships to advance its enterprise offerings.
Together, these developments underscore India’s transformation into a central node of the global AI ecosystem—one where digital inclusion, economic ambition, and corporate competition converge. The new partnership between Google and Jio is expected to set a precedent for how AI adoption scales across emerging markets, as technology giants pivot from software innovation to building deeply integrated ecosystems.