MC EXCLUSIVE AI tokens are the new digital currency, and Jio Platforms wants to lead: Group CEO

Jio Group CEO Mathew Oommen

Jio Platforms is gearing up for its next big disruption: slashing the cost of AI tokens and making them accessible at scale, much like it once did with voice and mobile data. After making calls free and driving data prices to among the lowest globally, the telecom major is now positioning tokens as the next core economic layer of telecom, replacing minutes and gigabytes in the AI era.

Tokens are the basic units that artificial intelligence systems use to process and generate responses -- fragments of text, images or commands that effectively act as the meter for AI usage and cost. As enterprises and consumers increasingly adopt AI tools, tokens are emerging as the new currency of the digital economy, determining how AI services are priced, consumed and scaled.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, Group CEO Mathew Oommen said the future telecom network will be natively embedded with artificial intelligence. Instead of operating as a connectivity provider, Jio aims to become a “token value” company, owning not just the transport of data, but the economics of AI computation itself.

“The telecom fabric will be natively embedded with the AI fabric,” Oommen said, outlining a vertically integrated seven-layer intelligence architecture that spans chips, physical infrastructure, models, applications, orchestration layers and device integration.

Unlike today’s networks, which largely move data between centralised data centres and end users, Jio’s vision involves distributed intelligence — where inference happens not only in large data centres but also at edge facilities, on enterprise premises, and increasingly within devices themselves.

This shift is critical because different AI workloads require different types of tokens. A robotic AI system, for instance, demands high-performance, low-latency tokens that are materially different from those needed for a simple text query. The ability to generate, manage and optimise multiple token types across use cases could determine who controls the economics of the AI era.

Differentiating From Big Tech

Jio believes its biggest advantage over global Big Tech players lies in its ownership of both the network and the subscriber relationship -- in the home and in the hand.

With over 500 million subscribers and deep fibre and mobility penetration, the company already has infrastructure and assets embedded inside homes and enterprises. That, Oommen argues, creates architectural leverage.

Rather than delivering AI solely from centralised hyperscale data centres, Jio plans to extend intelligence into homes, businesses and devices through a distributed edge architecture. Inference will increasingly happen closer to the user, reducing latency, improving performance and lowering cost.

That full-stack, distributed integration — from network to device — is where Jio sees its differentiation. The goal is to avoid becoming merely a “token pipe” provider and instead capture value across the stack.

Homes at the Centre of the AI Push

A central part of Jio’s strategy revolves around the connected home. Owning the subscriber relationship inside the home allows the company to embed intelligence directly into routers, set-top boxes, enterprise gateways and future AI-enabled devices.

As AI moves from cloud-based assistants to embedded, always-on intelligence within devices, the home becomes a critical node in the token economy. Delivering tokens efficiently across these environments — and eventually enabling on-device inference — could significantly lower costs and improve responsiveness.

In effect, Jio is betting that telecom operators who control the last mile and the in-home footprint will play a defining role in how AI is consumed.

While Jio is building core intellectual property across critical layers of the stack, Oommen made it clear that partnerships will remain central to the strategy.

“Follow the customer,” he said, emphasising that the company is open to working with technology providers where it creates value. Jio has previously built its own IP in key telecom components while partnering in areas where collaboration accelerates outcomes.

The same model will apply in the token economy: build differentiated capabilities where strategic, partner where necessary, and assemble solutions around customer use cases.