Mukesh Ambani Welcomes Disney to the Reliance Family, Reveals Plans for World’s Lowest-Cost AI: ‘Beginning of a New Era in Indian Entertainment’

As a humble resident of India who has grown up with the pulse of this vibrant nation, witnessing the evolution of its industries firsthand, I must say that Mukesh Ambani’s latest moves leave me in awe. The partnership with Disney and the ambitious AI plans unveiled at RIL’s annual general meeting are nothing short of revolutionary.


At their annual gathering on Thursday, Mukesh Ambani, head of Reliance Industries Limited in India, celebrated a significant collaboration with Disney and shared grand aspirations for artificial intelligence within his company.

On Wednesday, I was thrilled to learn that the Competition Commission of India gave its approval for the proposed $8.5 billion merger of key Indian entertainment assets between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and The Walt Disney Company, with some optional changes.

I jumped right into action, treating the Disney merger as a fait accompli. I proudly proclaimed it as “the inauguration of a fresh chapter in India’s entertainment industry.”

“Ambani explained that we’re merging content production with online broadcasting. Our goal is to offer extraordinary content at reasonable costs, catering to a wide range of consumer preferences.”

“Ambani expressed great enthusiasm about this collaboration and warmly invited Disney into the Reliance group. He highlighted that the enlarged media sector would serve as a significant catalyst for our conglomerate’s growth.”

Reliance Industries Limited’s media and entertainment sector generated more than $1.2 billion in income, marking a significant increase of 49%. In a separate development, Viacom18, the entertainment branch of Reliance, demonstrated exceptional growth with an impressive 62%, primarily boosted by its sports division. This is according to comments made by Mukesh Ambani.

This year’s Indian Premier League cricket tournament on JioCinema, the company’s streaming service, saw incredible success, drawing in a staggering 620 million Indian viewers – a whopping 38% more than the previous year. In total, viewership increased by an impressive 50%, earning it the title of “the most-watched livestream event worldwide,” as stated by Ambani. To add to this achievement, JioCinema’s latest subscription package, which includes original content, reality shows, movies, and programs from HBO, Paramount, and NBCU, has already amassed 15 million paying subscribers within its first 100 days, according to Ambani.

In the realm of Indian television, Colors took the lead as the most-watched Hindi channel. Meanwhile, the company’s news networks reigned supreme in terms of audience viewership. Notably, News18 spearheaded election coverage, CNBC TV18 claimed an 82% share on budget day, and CNN News18 has maintained its top position for over two years straight.

In addition to physical assets, digital platforms demonstrated robustness. Moneycontrol attracted approximately 70 million unique visitors and boasted over 850,000 paid subscribers for its premium service, MC Pro. Meanwhile, Firstpost is broadening its reach worldwide, registering 127 million video views in July, as Ambani stated.

As a cinephile, I’d put it this way:

Artificial Intelligence has become a key priority for Ambani, who recently presented the “Jio AI for All, Everywhere” concept. The company aims to establish an extensive national network of AI infrastructure, comprising data centers, with the ambition to achieve the lowest AI inferencing costs globally within India. Reliance is working on “Jio Brain,” a collection of advanced AI tools and platforms, and from November during Diwali festival holidays, Jio users will receive 100 GB of free cloud storage to boost their AI services.

“Ambani stated that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the ability to customize entertainment for individuals, thereby enhancing interaction and ensuring content is tailored to their preferences.”

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2024-08-29 15:46