Google announced free 18-month access to its Gemini AI to all 505 million telecom users in India’s Reliance Jio. This is a tie-up that follows similar freebies from rivals, including OpenAI’s, to promote adoption in the world’s most famous nation.
The significant step comes after Google’s offer to invest $15 billion in AI infrastructure capacity in India, its largest investment yet in the critical South Asian market. AI has experienced a surge in popularity in recent months in India, prompting authorities to introduce sweeping rules for AI and social media companies this month. These rules require precise labelling of AI-generated content, aiming to tackle the spread of deepfakes and misinformation.
India has become a go-to market for global tech firms with nearly 1 billion users to promote their subscriber base and gather data for enhancing their services. This Google offer will provide Jio users with free access to the advanced model of AI apps, two terabytes of cloud storage, and its image and video generation models, as part of an 18-month offering that is otherwise priced at ₹35,100 ($399).
Earlier, Google also announced its data centre, valued at $10 billion, in Vishakapatnam, India, one of the largest digital infrastructure foreign direct investment projects to date. The company also proposed AI partnerships that targeted Indian businesses. The AI-free plan will provide early access to 18-25-year-old users on select telecom plans. “It will develop to include every Jio customer nationwide in the “shortest time possible”, Reliance said in a statement.”
