Reliance Group's Ambani to talk 6G, AI with Lee Jae-yong in Samsung campus visit
Published: 19 Nov. 2025, 17:44
Updated: 19 Nov. 2025, 18:20
![Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/11/19/788068f1-c00d-4089-8e16-8ea9f1a4dcd9.jpg)
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left, and Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani [JOONGANG ILBO]
Mukesh Ambani, the Indian tycoon who wields unmatched influence over one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets, plans to visit Samsung Electronics’ Suwon campus next week for talks that could reshape the companies’ cooperation in 5G, 6G and AI.
Ambani, the chairman of India’s Reliance Group and Asia’s richest man, will travel with his eldest son, Akash Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm, for a two-day trip beginning next Tuesday, industry insiders told the JoongAng Ilbo.
The pair will tour Samsung’s 5G equipment line and 6G development facilities with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong on the day of their arrival. This will be the elder Ambani’s first visit to a Samsung site.
“Because the Ambani father and son are visiting the site in person, this could lead to a follow-up contract," an industry source said.
After the visit to the Suwon complex, the Ambanis and Lee will head to a location in Seoul for dinner, with the head of Samsung’s network business also expected to join. Samsung competes in network equipment with China’s Huawei, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia.
The visit reflects the senior Ambani’s central role in the telecommunications and energy sectors of the world’s most populous nation. Reliance Group has built India’s largest corporate empire and is constructing what is expected to be one of the globe’s biggest AI data centers.
Forbes estimates the tycoon's net worth at $111.4 billion, making him the richest person in Asia and the 15th richest globally. His influence has drawn visits and investment pitches from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
Reliance has invested roughly $35 billion since 2012 to build a nationwide 4G LTE network in India, for which Samsung has served as its sole equipment supplier for more than a decade. Akash Ambani became chairman of Jio in 2022. As of late September, Jio had 506 million subscribers, the second-largest user base in the world.
Samsung sees opening as India races to 5G
![Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, left, and his son, Akash Ambani, pose during the pre-wedding ceremony of Ambani's youngest son, Anant Ambani, to Radhika Merchant at their residence Antilia in Mumbai, India, on July 8, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/11/19/f14a295a-2e38-4486-8ef3-90cec8e314e5.jpg)
Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, left, and his son, Akash Ambani, pose during the pre-wedding ceremony of Ambani's youngest son, Anant Ambani, to Radhika Merchant at their residence Antilia in Mumbai, India, on July 8, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]
India is rapidly pushing toward 5G services. New Delhi excluded Huawei from its 5G rollout amid political tensions with China, though Ericsson and Nokia claimed much of the resulting market share.
Reliance is constructing a 3-gigawatt-scale data center in Gujarat in western India, one of the largest single data centers globally. Indian media reported last week that another gigawatt-scale facility is planned in the country’s southeast. With massive AI data centers rising in both regions, Samsung sees an opening to supply 5G and 6G technologies and equipment optimized for data center networks.
The surge in AI model sizes and cloud services has made ultrafast, high-capacity network infrastructure essential. Interconnections within and between data centers increasingly determine AI performance.
Nvidia’s recent $1 billion purchase of a 2.9 percent stake in Nokia reflects this trend. Nvidia has spent several years working with Ericsson, Nokia and T-Mobile to integrate 6G technologies into AI data centers.
Samsung is part of this effort and announced last year that it had validated AI-RAN, a system that merges 5G networks with Nvidia’s accelerated computing.
U.S. tech companies, limited by China’s restrictions, have also turned to Reliance’s data center ambitions. Google and Meta, early investors in Jio in 2020, now work with the company on cloud operations and AI model development. Nvidia’s Huang has pledged to supply the latest Blackwell AI accelerators.
'JY Network' for Samsung's network business
![Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, poses during the wedding ceremony of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, in July 2024 in this photo captured from Weibo. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/11/19/8ad6a9ce-c3ad-43ec-aec6-0d6e1b7d1700.jpg)
Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, poses during the wedding ceremony of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, in July 2024 in this photo captured from Weibo. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Korea’s business community is watching closely to see whether Ambani’s visit boosts Samsung’s network division. The company’s foundry business recently secured a major Tesla order for AI chips, breaking a long slump.
Analysts say Lee’s expansive global web of personal ties, often referred to as the “JY network,” continues to generate new opportunities for Samsung.
Lee has maintained ties with the Ambani family for years. He was the only Korean invited to the weddings of Ambani’s three children, including Akash’s 2019 ceremony, where Lee drew attention for donning traditional Indian headwear.
During a 2023 trip to Japan, Lee told reporters, “What I’ve learned is that the more friends you have and the fewer enemies you have, the better.”
His network now includes prominent figures across global business and government. Since last year, he has met Nvidia’s Huang, Meta’s Zuckerberg, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun and Mercedes-Benz Chairman Ola Källenius.
Lee also met Huang for a highly publicized dinner at a fried-chicken restaurant in Seoul, which preceded Samsung’s decision to secure 50,000 Nvidia GPUs amid intense global demand. A video call with Tesla CEO Elon Musk later led to Samsung’s deal to manufacture Tesla’s AI chips. Lee’s longstanding relationship with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan could also lead to talks on AI data center cooperation in the Middle East.
“The ‘JY network’ has played a major role in many of the large overseas contracts Samsung Electronics has secured," a Samsung source said, referring to the initial of the chairman's first name, Jae-yong.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM KI-HWAN, SHIM SEO-HYUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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