Mukesh Ambani commits Rs 10 lakh crore to build sovereign AI at AI Impact Summit

In an impactful address at the inaugural ceremony of India AI Impact Summit 2026, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, expressed his confidence in the potential of India to become an AI superpower in the near future.

Ambani likened artificial intelligence to a modern-day Akshay Patra- the legendary vessel of the Mahabharat that provided endless nourishment. He noted that AI offers limitless augmentation in knowledge, efficiency, and productivity, and also emphasised that we are only at the dawn of this era. Acknowledging the global debate over the concentration of power, Amabani stood firmly with the Prime Minister’s vision of a future where AI is available, affordable and beneficial to all.

"India cannot afford to rent intelligence. Therefore, we will reduce the cost of intelligence as dramatically as we did the cost of data. Jio connected India to the Internet era; Jio will now connect India to the Intelligence era."

The address was followed by a major commitment by Ambani to invest Rs 10 lakh crore over the next seven years. He clarified that this is patient, disciplined, nation-building capital designed to create durable economic value and strategic resilience for decades to come.

Breaking the compute constraint

Identifying the scarcity and high cost of compute as the industry’s biggest hurdles, Ambani unveiled Jio Intelligence’s plan to build India’s sovereign compute infrastructure. The strategy is to construct multi-gigawatt, AI-ready data centres. The first 120 megawatts are slated to come in the second half of 2026, supported by an in-house energy advantage of up to 10 gigawatts of surplus green power from solar hubs in Kutch and Andhra Pradesh.

In terms of ensuring this intelligence is responsive and accessible, Jio is integrating an edge compute layer directly into its networks, ensuring that intelligence will live at the edge for the country.

"When compute becomes infrastructure, innovation will become inevitable. Our resolve is clear: make intelligence as ubiquitous as connectivity."

The five non-negotiable guarantees

Ambani provided five core principles that will guide Jio Intelligence, ensuring that the technology remains a tool for inclusion rather than exclusion. First, he guaranteed that AI would drive leadership in deep-tech and advanced manufacturing, reaching agriculture and the informal sector.

Second, he committed to world-leading multilingual AI capability across all Indian languages, encapsulated in the vision that India will speak in its own language, flourish in its culture, and bloom in its soil.

Third, Ambani emphasised that data residency, security, and trust are core guarantees, not afterthoughts. Fourth, he explicitly addressed workforce concerns, stating that Jio will prove "AI does not take away jobs; rather, it will create new high-skill work opportunities.

Finally, he pledged to build a deep partnership ecosystem with Indian startups, IITs, and research institutions to foster global breakthroughs rooted in Indian values.

"The AI story has shifted from who has the best model to who can build the strongest ecosystem for speed and scale of usage. We will partner with the very best tech companies in the world, not as importers of intelligence, but as co-architects of a new AI century."

The address concluded with a call for AI growth to be driven by social relevance rather than momentary craze. He envisioned a future where India serves as the vital bridge between the Global North and Global South, using AI to usher in an era of super-abundance and prosperity for all.