Jio introduces AI platform Jio Brain

Jio Platforms, part of Reliance Industries and parent company of Reliance Jio, which is India's largest service provider, has launched its AI platform Jio Brain. It integrates machine learning (ML) capabilities in the telco and enterprise networks without going through network/IT transformation.

"Jio Brain will help create new 5G services, transform enterprises, optimise networks, as well as set the stage for 6G development - where ML is a key capability," said Aayush Bhatnagar, senior vice president of Jio Platforms, in a LinkedIn post announcing the launch of Jio Brain. The platform is the result of two years' research and development by hundreds of engineers, added Bhatnagar.

According to the solution brief shared by Bhatnagar, Jio Brain is application agnostic and combines the speed, latency and massive connectivity of 5G with ML's data processing, analysis and automation capabilities. It also offers distributed machine learning, alongside enterprise and mobile-ready "large language model (LLM) as a service."

Focus on AI

"Apart from customized enterprise and large-scale LLM capabilities, advanced AI features for images, videos, text, documents, speech, and in-built AI algorithms are available 'as a service,'" says Bhatnagar's LinkedIn post. In addition, Jio Brain also includes over 500 representational state transfer (REST) application programming interfaces (APIs) and data APIs for the creation of ML-enabled services.

AI is one of Reliance Jio's focus areas. The company is working with Bombay's Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B) to launch the Bharat GPT program to develop AI-based solutions for several business verticals. Reliance Industries has also recently collaborated with chipmaker Nvidia to create an India-centric foundation LLM, which will be trained on the country's diverse languages and tailored for generative AI.

Jio Platforms is in the midst of developing 5G products and solutions for service providers as well as enterprises. It is also looking at "collaborating with like-minded AI/ML researchers to create value and scale the Jio Brain innovative ecosystem," according to Bhatnagar's post.

There is a heightened interest within the telecom industry in using generative AI to gain new capabilities. Several telcos, including South Korea's SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, are exploiting the technology to improve operational efficiency and reduce expenses. Vodafone has recently signed a $1.5 billion cloud and AI deal with tech giant Microsoft.