In a significant development in the AI space, OpenAI and Meta are reportedly in discussions with Indian conglomerate Reliance to explore new AI business collaborations. According to The Information, OpenAI executives have been engaging with Reliance counterparts over the past few months to establish a potential product and sales partnership.
The Sam Altman-led AI company is considering teaming up with Reliance’s telecom arm, Jio, to distribute and sell its AI offerings, including ChatGPT. Additionally, Reliance, which operates in the cloud computing space, has reportedly evaluated a proposal to offer OpenAI’s models to enterprise clients via an application programming interface (API). However, Microsoft’s exclusive rights to resell OpenAI’s models through APIs could impact the negotiations.
Meanwhile, sources suggest that Meta has its own ambitions to collaborate with Reliance in the AI domain, though specifics about the nature of these partnerships remain unclear.
OpenAI is also reportedly considering a price reduction for ChatGPT’s premium subscription in India, bringing it down from the current $20 per month to just a few dollars. However, it is not confirmed whether this pricing strategy has been discussed with Reliance.
The discussions also extend to Reliance’s upcoming large-scale data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat, with the company reportedly exploring the possibility of providing data center capacity to OpenAI and Meta. Reports indicate that Reliance may run OpenAI and Meta’s large language models (LLMs) at a potential 3-gigawatt (GW) data center in the city. The company has also been in discussions with government officials regarding data localization policies, aiming to ensure that Indian customer data remains within national borders.
A potential partnership with Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) would provide OpenAI and Meta with access to a vast distribution network, allowing them to expand their AI services across India. For OpenAI, this could be a key step toward reaching its ambitious goal of 1 billion daily active users by the end of the year.
Despite India being a major market for AI, OpenAI’s revenue from the region remains limited due to price sensitivity. Meanwhile, Indian AI startups such as SarvamAI and Krutrim are gaining traction, raising significant funding to develop Indic LLMs and AI solutions tailored for the local market.
The Indian government has also intensified efforts to build a thriving AI ecosystem with the INR 10,300 crore IndiaAI Mission and other policy initiatives. Earlier this year, the Centre invited proposals for an indigenous AI foundational model, receiving applications from 67 startups, including SarvamAI, CoRover.ai, and Ola’s Krutrim.
While it remains to be seen whether OpenAI and Meta’s talks with Reliance materialize into concrete partnerships, India’s AI landscape is rapidly evolving, with both global tech giants and homegrown startups competing to shape the future of AI in the country.
