Big Tech meets Big Telecom: Regulators must stay alert

India’s telecom giants are reshaping how millions access artificial intelligence (AI).

- AARTHI SIVANANDH

When Airtel partners with Perplexity or Jio bundles Google's AI tools into its data plans, it creates a new architecture of power, data flow and risk that existing regulations aren't designed to handle.

AI-telecom bundling involves pre-installing or subsidizing AI services—assistants, search tools, content generators—through authorized telecom providers, either free or at reduced cost. These arrangements give AI companies instant access to countless users while telecom firms gain a new revenue stream and stickier customer relationships.

But this convenience comes with two big complications. One, opaque commercial arrangements between telecom firms and AI providers; and, two, unknown limits on access to customer behaviour data. When your mobile network bundles an AI assistant, questions multiply. Are AI models training on your conversations and phone usage? Where does liability fall if things go wrong?

What is the regulator's role in balancing customer protection with commercial rights?

Data is a major concern. Telecom firms hold longitudinal datasets tied to accounts, devices and usage patterns, while bundled AI can access photographs, location traces, call records and device telemetry. When combined, AI analysis can reveal sensitive attributes—location patterns that suggest religious observance, browsing habits that imply political views and video analytics that offer biometric templates.