Reliance partners with NVIDIA to build AI infrastructure in India

US-based chipmaker NVIDIA is partnering with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) to build Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure in India, said NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on Thursday. Huang was speaking at the NVIDIA AI Summit 2024 at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumabi.

"It makes complete sense that India should manufacture its own AI. You should not export data to import intelligence,” Huang said.

"In just one year's time, by the end of this year, we will have nearly 20 times more computers here in India than just a little over a year ago,” he added. 

NVIDIA’s flagship AI Conference is being held from October 23–25, and is one of three global conferences, alongside those in Washington, D.C. and Japan.

“In order to lead in artificial intelligence, you need to have AI model technology that India has. You need to have data, massive quantities of data. The last thing you need is AI infrastructure. We are announcing that Reliance and NVIDIA are partnering to build AI infrastructure here in India,” said Huang during a fireside chat with RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

“To create that into a flywheel is one of the great advantages that India has, which is a very large population of users. Now you have the fundamental ingredients: AI, data, and AI infrastructure. You have a large population of users that ultimately creates your AI flywheel,” he added. 

Ambani, who had earlier outlined Reliance's ambitious plans to make AI accessible and affordable for all Indians during its 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in August, highlighted the need for building a robust AI infrastructure. 

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“Apart from the US and China, India has the best digital connectivity infrastructure, 4G, 5G, and broadband in the world. Jio took India from number 158 in the world to number one in the world in eight years. We, as a single company, didn't know anything about this domain, but today, we are the largest data company in the world,” said Amabani. 

Huang’s visit signifies the ongoing collaboration between NVIDIA and Indian IT majors such as Reliance, Infosys, and Tata Group to enhance India's AI ecosystem and IT workforce.

Ambani further detailed Reliance's plans for a “big scale-up” at Jamnagar in Gujarat, where the conglomerate is building infrastructure starting with one gigawatt of power capacity, expandable to multiple gigawatts at a single location. 

“We already have the green power, so we are not dependent on anybody else for power. We are building this so that we can scale this, and as your [to Huang] multiple orders of magnitude technologies come, we will build our infrastructure,” said Ambani. 

Ambani had earlier revealed that multiple AI inference facilities will be established across various locations in the country in partnership with leading global tech companies to introduce advanced AI models, solutions, and tools in India. 

He further said that four sectors will benefit the most from AI advancements--agriculture, education, healthcare, and small businesses.

Reliance has invested over Rs 3,643 crore ($437 million) in R&D during FY24, bringing its total research expenditure to over Rs 11,000 crore ($1.5 billion) in the past four years. The company has employed more than 1,000 scientists and researchers on crucial projects across its various businesses.

“For India and Indians, we have to repeat Jio for intelligence to be really affordable, available to common people.. and towards that, it is important that we design and build infrastructure so that to use AI, our customers don't have to change a phone, don't have to change their computers, but they can still get good quality AI, and we take the burden of putting that infrastructure together,” Ambani said.

According to recent reports, NVIDIA's market value has risen to $3.39 trillion, making it the world's second-largest company, just marginally behind Apple's $3.57 trillion. 

Currently operating in six locations across India, NVIDIA hosts over 4,000 employees.