Nvidia, RIL join forces to build AI computing infra

American chip behemoth Nvidia Corp and India’s retail-to-refining giant Reliance Industries on Thursday unveiled their goal to build a formidable AI computing infrastructure in the country.

Highlighting the tie-up, Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, made a broader appeal: India should focus on “manufacturing” AI, rather than racing to build semiconductor fabs.

As part of this collaboration, Nvidia will reportedly supply its Blackwell AI processors to power Reliance’s one-gigawatt data center in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

The US tech company will also provide its advanced Hopper AI chips to build large-scale data centres, in an expansion led by firms, such as data centre provider Yotta Data Services and Tata Communications.

Infosys, TCS, and Wipro, all titans of India’s IT industry, will help deploy custom AI solutions using Nvidia’s enterprise platform, while Tech Mahindra shall tap into its new Hindi-language AI model to develop Indus 2.0.

But the headline-grabbing announcement was paired with a larger vision, articulated by Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries.

In a fireside chat with Huang at Nvidia’s AI Summit here, Ambani stressed that it was time India ushered in “the Intelligence Revolution", noting that AI could not only bring prosperity to India’s 1.5 billion people but also make a significant global impact.

"I think we are at the doorstep of this new Intelligent age," he added, thanking Huang for Nvidia's contribution in bringing this shift within reach.

The Indian business leader’s ambition was underpinned by his confidence in India’s youthful demographic, which he described as possessing the “raw gene power” to drive intelligence forward.

Ambani expressed his particular enthusiasm for Nvidia’s forthcoming GB200 superchip, which will be part of the Blackwell generation of AI processors.

“I don’t like doing anything but the best technology,” he said.

Huang, quick to respond with his signature humor, quipped: “All my technology is the best technology, including the next one.”

Huang’s remarks throughout the summit reflected a growing optimism about India’s role in shaping the future of AI.

He noted that India’s IT industry, already world-renowned for its size and expertise, was well-positioned to move beyond software outsourcing to become a hub for AI innovation.

“India should be at the centre of AI,” he declared, adding that “no one manufactures intelligence at the moment.

"Before every other country jumps into that, India should jump into that.”

The announcement came amid Nvidia's growing footprint in India, where the company already has centers in Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, employing close to 10,000 people.

“Our AI is developed in all these centres. A third of Nvidia is in India,” he said.

“It is also a reason why so many of the world’s capability centers are in India.

"Now it is good to see India move into manufacturing.”

Huang further said that the tech industry is undergoing “seismic changes” due to AI and India’s IT industry will play a key role in the adoption of AI by enterprises.

“India exported software; in future, it will export AI,” he predicted, adding that the country is expected to increase its compute capabilities twentyfold than what it had a year back by the end of 2024.

“Six years back PM (Narendra) Modi had asked me to address his Cabinet on AI.

"I was surprised… Modiji said ‘India should manufacture its own Al, not outsource’,” he recalled.

“You should not export data to import intelligence.”

Nvidia’s plans are not limited to its partnership with Reliance.

The company is also working with a wide range of Indian firms, including Sarvam.ai, Flipkart, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Krutrim to develop a large language model in Hindi.

Additionally, Nvidia is collaborating with Tata group and Yotta to create AI-powered data centres.

Reflecting on the name Nvidia, Huang, in his keynote, said one of the reasons he chose the name because it sounded like a mystic land.

When it came to talking about Nvidia in India, he said: “The headline ‘Nvidia is AI in India’, is interesting. Aside from the letter 'V', you could use Nvidia to create the rest of the sentence, which I thought was really cool.”

Ambani, playing off Huang’s reflections on the name Nvidia, offered a uniquely Indian interpretation.

In Hindi, Ambani explained, “Vidya” means knowledge, and in Indian tradition, the goddess Saraswati represents knowledge.

“When you devote yourself sincerely to the goddess of knowledge, the goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi, follows,” he said, linking AI’s intellectual promise with its potential for economic gains.

Huang, clearly charmed, responded with a smile. "I knew I had named the company right... Everyone said Nvidia, what a horrible name.

"You will never make it. I knew it, I stuck with it."