In this photo illustration, the Google AI Studio application is displayed on a mobile phone with Google in the background on October 26, 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.
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Google will offer its Gemini AI service for free to over 500 million Reliance Jio users in India, as global artificial intelligence companies focus on customer acquisition in India.
The US tech giant on Thursday said it has signed a deal with Reliance Intelligence, a joint venture between Reliance Industries and Mehta, to offer Google’s AI Pro plan, which includes Gemini 2.5 Pro, expanded access to NotebookLM for learning and research, 2TB of cloud storage, and more.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani said the company aims to “AI-power” India through collaboration with strategic and long-term partners such as Google. Reliance Jio is India’s largest telecom service provider.
The Google service, worth Rs 35,100 ($396) per user, will be rolled out in phases for users aged 18 to 25 with early access to unlimited Jio 5G plans for 18 months. Eventually, it will be available for free to the company’s entire customer base.
“We’re excited to see how this partnership expands access to AI across India,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.
According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, India has around 377 million Gen Z members and their consumer spending in the country is expected to reach $860 billion and grow to $2 trillion by 2035.
India has the most users in the world across social media platforms such as Facebook (over 350 million), Instagram (over 413.8 million), video app YouTube (over 467 million), and messaging app WhatsApp has over 500 million users, making it a major market for digital services.
In July, Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest carrier, partnered with Perplexity to give its 360 million customers free access to Perplexity Pro, which is priced at $200 per year worldwide.
Airtel and Perplexity followed this up with an intensive campaign on social media platforms, engaging India’s leading influencers to post Reels promoting use cases of the free AI tool.
India’s telecom market is dominated by Jio and Airtel, and partnering with these operators allows businesses to expand the reach of apps and digital tools to reach more users.
On Tuesday, OpenAI reportedly announced that its ChatGPT Go plan will be free for users in India for one year starting November 4th. The offer was launched in August at Rs 399 per month, making it one of OpenAI’s most affordable subscription plans.
The company is rapidly expanding its presence in India, its second-largest market, with plans to set up a 1-gigawatt data center there.
