AI rush: RIL, Meta set up Rs 855 cr JV, Google joins for AI-ready data centres

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Friday announced a joint venture with social media major Meta, with an initial investment of about Rs 855 crore ($100 million), to build and scale artificial intelligence technology solutions for business organisations.RIL also unveiled a partnership with Google for artificial intelligence, aimed at setting up AI-ready data centres in India. While computing power will come from Google, energy support will be provided by RIL and connectivity by Reliance Jio, PTI reported.Announcing the joint venture with Meta, RIL Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said the collaboration combines the strength of open-source AI with Reliance’s expertise across multiple sectors.“Partnering with Meta brings our vision of providing AI to every Indian and enterprise to life – by combining Meta’s most widely adopted open-source Llama models with our deep expertise across multiple industries. We will democratise enterprise-grade AI for every Indian organisation,” Mukesh Ambani said.The JV will leverage Meta’s open-source Llama model to offer enterprises AI platform-as-a-service.Under the agreement, RIL and Meta have jointly committed to an initial investment of about Rs 855 crore ($100 million) to capitalise the venture, with Reliance holding a 70 per cent stake and Meta 30 per cent, RIL said in a statement.Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the partnership will expand the reach of its AI models in India.“Meta and Reliance are going to deliver our open-source AI models to Indian businesses to help them fuel their work. With Llama, we have seen how AI can amplify human potential, boosting productivity, inspiring creativity, and accelerating innovation. And now, with Reliance’s reach and scale, we can bring this to every corner of India,” Zuckerberg said.