Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries on Friday announced new partnerships with Google and Meta to accelerate the company’s push into artificial intelligence.

Speaking at an annual shareholders’ meeting on Friday, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani also disclosed ambitions to list Reliance Jio, India’s largest mobile network, in the first half of 2026.

“A decade ago, digital services became a new growth engine for Reliance — the opportunity before us with AI is just as large, if not larger,” Ambani said, as he revealed a new fully owned subsidiary called Reliance Intelligence.

In a pre-recorded video played during the AGM, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that Reliance would leverage the internet giant’s AI and cloud computing capabilities to boost innovation across sectors like energy, retail, telecommunications and financial services.

The pair will establish a dedicated cloud region in India, powered by clean energy provided by Reliance Industries and connected through Jio’s network.

Separately, Ambani also announced a new joint venture with Meta to make use of the tech group’s open-source AI models and deliver “sovereign, enterprise-ready AI for India.”

Under the new venture, Reliance Industries and Meta have committed an initial investment of $100 million to capitalize the unit in a ratio of 70% and 30% respectively, the two companies said in a joint statement Friday.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg hailed the partnership as “a key step forward towards ensuring that everyone has access to AI and eventually super intelligence.”

The partnerships signal a deeper push from U.S. tech names into India at a time when the country is seeing significant economic growth. It is not the first time that either Google and Meta has shown an interest in Reliance.

In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion into Jio Platforms, which is the parent company of Reliance Jio. Google separately announced a $4.5 billion investment in Jio Platforms that same year.

Jio Platforms owns a number of brands, including its telecommunications business Reliance Jio, which has grown rapidly over the past decade thanks to competitive pricing.

Reliance’s deeper pacts with Google and Meta come at a precarious time for U.S.-India relations. U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed hefty tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil.

Eric Trump said Friday he is certain bitcoin will eventually hit a $1 million valuation as he spoke at a Hong Kong conference, marking the first of a series of Asian crypto events that will feature U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons.

Speaking at Hong Kong’s Bitcoin Asia 2025 conference, Eric Trump discussed his strong involvement in the crypto space.

“I really believe in the next several years, Bitcoin hits a million dollars. There’s no question,” he said, adding that 90% of his time is now spent with the crypto community. 

During his panel, the American businessman and former reality TV presenter also showered praise on Simon Gerovich, president and CEO of Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet. Eric joined the Tokyo-listed company’s board of advisors earlier this year. 

Bitcoin’s price has risen about 86% in the last 12 months amid buoyant investor sentiment surrounding President’s Trump’s election victory and a more positive U.S. regulatory environment on crypto. However, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies generally can be highly volatile and the space has been shrouded in the past by illicit activity and corporate scandals. In 2022, bitcoin and other digital currencies slumped sharply after a slew of major crypto companies went bankrupt.

Now the brothers are broadening their push into digital assets to Asia. Soon after his Hong Kong visit, Eric Trump is reportedly headed to Japan to attend a shareholder meeting of Metaplanet, according to a recent report from Bloomberg News.

Later in September, both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are expected to speak at a South Korean crypto conference, and the pair is slated to appear as key speakers at Singapore’s Token 2049, one of the world’s largest crypto events.

Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, President Trump has also embraced the crypto industry, branding himself as the first “crypto president.” 

“The Bitcoin community embraced my father unlike anything I had ever seen before,” Eric Trump said Friday adding: “And I hope that’s paid off in spades.”

The Trump administration has launched a number of executive orders and backed policies welcomed by the digital asset industry and has filled his cabinet with crypto advocates like David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar. 

Trump has also been involved in crypto business ventures, including World Liberty Financial and his $TRUMP meme coin, leading to accusations of corruption and self-dealing from opposition lawmakers, as well as calls for ethics investigations.

Given the shared interests between the American president and his son’s crypto activities, market watchers will be monitoring how the two brothers are received by government officials during their Asia tour. 

The visits come against the backdrop of President Trump’s ongoing global trade war, which has made Asia a major target.  

A Hong Kong official and a lawmaker withdrew from a Bitcoin Asia conference in the city following advice not to engage with Eric Trump, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

An archived version of the event webpage confirmed that Eric Yip, executive director at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and lawmaker Johnny Ng had previously been on the list of speakers for the event, before being removed. 

The SFC told CNBC that Yip was unable to attend the event because of a business trip, while the South China Morning Post reported that Ng said he withdrew for family reasons. 

The Hong Kong legislative council did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

Alibaba posted a better-than-expected bottom line in the June quarter fueled by accelerated sales at its cloud computing unit and a continued revival of its e-commerce business.

Still, the Chinese giant’s revenues came in under analyst forecasts.

Alibaba’s stock was up around 4% in premarket trade in the U.S. after initially dipping.

Here’s how Alibaba did in its fiscal first quarter ended June, compared with LSEG estimates:

• Revenue: 247.65 billion Chinese yuan ($34.6 billion), versus 252.9 billion yuan expected.
• Net income: 43.11 billion yuan, compared with 28.5 billion yuan expected.

Revenue rose 2% year-on-year, while the company’s net income was up 78%. Alibaba attributed the increase in profit to gains in some of its equity investments and the disposal of Turkish e-commerce firm Trendyol. This was offset by a decrease in income from operations.

However, excluding investment gains, Alibaba’s net income would have decreased 18% year-on-year as it continues to invest in the cut-throat instant commerce space in China.

Alibaba has a delicate balancing act between investing areas such as artificial intelligence and new e-commerce models, while showing that it can continue to grow in China’s competitive market. So far, investors have rewarded Alibaba with a 40% rally in its U.S.-listed stock this year.

That’s partly thanks a continued growth acceleration at its key cloud computing division as well as improvements at both its China and international e-commerce businesses.

Investors are focused on Alibaba’s investments in artificial intelligence, where it has become a major global player. The company has aggressively launched various AI models and is selling services through its cloud computing division.

While Alibaba has focused open source AI — meaning its models can be used for free and built on by developers — it also sells AI services through its cloud unit.

Alibaba said AI-related product revenue “maintained triple-digit year-over-year growth for the eighth consecutive quarter.”

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA), a measure of profitability, jumped 26% year-on-year in the cloud unit.

New York-listed Alibaba shares have risen more than 40% this year as revenue growth at its core China e-commerce business has improved and its cloud computing division has accelerated.

The company is dealing with uncertainty in the Chinese economy, which lost momentum in July. Earlier this year, Beijing had launched initiatives to boost consumption.

Competition is intense in China, with rivals including food delivery giant Meituan and JD.com, all involved. And the rivalry is already taking its toll on some of these firms, with Meituan this week posting an 89% plunge in second-quarter adjusted net profit.

Alibaba’s own quick commerce division brought in revenue of more than 14.8 billion yuan, or $2 billion, rising 12% year-on-year.

Still, investors appear okay with Alibaba’s instant commerce investments, because its cloud computing business continues to grow, while its international online shopping unit — which includes AliExpress — saw a 19% jump in revenue in the quarter as losses narrowed.