Reliance Jio, IIT-Bombay collaborate on ‘Bharat GPT’: Here's everything you need to know

Reliance Jio is developing a new AI programme called ‘Bharat GPT’. The programme is inspired by advanced AI chatbots such as ChatGPT. The company has joined hands with IIT-Bombay to create this innovative and India-centric AI initiative. In addition to this, Jio is also working on a TV operating system to complement its set-top box and TV apps offerings.

This was revealed by Reliance Jio Infocomm chairman Akash Ambani at the annual techfest of IIT Bombay on Wednesday. He said that generative AI applications would shape the future and that Jio would leverage AI across its various domains. “We are working very hard to launch AI not only as a vertical inside our organisation, but also horizontally across all our sectors,” he said, according to a report by the Press Trust of India. He did not mention when the ‘Bharat GPT’ programme would be launched.

He also said that Jio had been working on its own TV operating system for some time and was planning to launch it soon. He added that Jio had partnered with Nvidia in September to build language models, generative AI apps and cloud infrastructure platform for AI development in the South Asian region. “Reliance will create AI applications and services for their 450 million Jio (telecom) customers and provide energy-efficient AI infrastructure to scientists, developers and startups across India,” Nvidia had said earlier.

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani had also expressed his vision of developing India-specific AI models and AI-powered solutions across domains earlier this year. He had called artificial intelligence the most exciting frontier of growth for Jio and had promised “AI to everyone, everywhere.”

AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have become very popular in the last year, leading to a surge of AI-driven applications and investments in the sector. Several Indian startups and firms have also been working on their own AI apps and services tailored for India.