Digital
Mukesh Ambani pledges Rs 10 lakh crore to power India’s AI rise
From data to intelligence, Reliance bets big on an AI revolution
NEW DELHI: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Thursday unveiled a jaw-dropping Rs 10 lakh crore investment plan to catapult India into the artificial intelligence era, promising to transform the country’s digital landscape much like he did with mobile data.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit, Ambani painted a vision of “super abundance” powered by AI. “Artificial Intelligence is not just another technology. For the first time, humans are creating systems that can learn, speak, analyse, move, and produce autonomously,” he said. Drawing a vivid analogy, he added, “I see AI as a modern-day Akshay Patra, the legendary vessel in the Mahabharat that provided endless nourishment. Likewise, AI offers limitless augmentation in knowledge, efficiency, and productivity.”
Ambani outlined a stark fork in the global AI road. “One path leads to scarce, expensive AI and controlled data, the other ensures AI is affordable and accessible,” he said. “India cannot afford to rent intelligence. We will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did the cost of data.”
The Reliance chairman highlighted Jio’s role in building the country’s digital backbone, pointing out that India is the world’s largest mobile data consumer, with nearly 1 billion internet users enjoying some of the lowest costs globally. “In terms of quality, there is no difference between Delhi and the remotest Indian village,” he said.
Jio Intelligence will spearhead the plan with a three-pronged approach. Gigawatt-scale data centres are already under construction in Jamnagar, with 120 megawatts expected online in the second half of 2026, paving the way for large-scale AI training. A green energy advantage of up to 10 gigawatts of surplus power, anchored in solar plants in Kutch and Andhra Pradesh, will fuel the AI push sustainably. Finally, a nationwide edge compute layer integrated with Jio’s network will make AI responsive, low-latency, and affordable for citizens across India.
Ambani concluded with a bullish note on India’s strengths. “No country can match India’s strength in demography, democracy, development, digital infrastructure, data generation, and AI harvest,” he said. With 1.4 billion Aadhaar IDs, over 12 billion monthly UPI transactions, and a booming startup ecosystem of over 100,000 ventures including more than 100 unicorns, India is poised to emerge as a global AI powerhouse.
The Rs 10 lakh crore investment will roll out over seven years, starting this year. Ambani stressed that this is “not speculative investment. It is patient, disciplined nation-building capital,” signalling a long-term vision that promises to place India firmly on the global AI map.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
