Meta Platforms expanded its partnership with Reliance Industries, agreeing to lease its first AI-enabled data centre in India as part of ambitions to grow its presence in the country.

Meta stated Reliance will build the facility in the Indian state of Gujarat with 168MW of capacity which Meta will use to “scale its AI infrastructure”.

The Facebook-owner explained it is investing aggressively to expand its capacity footprint, and India’s “tech-forward digital economy”, massive user base and the strength of its partnership with Reliance makes it the ideal location.

Reliance has identified Jamnagar, Gujarat as a strategic location, building out one of the largest data centre campuses in the world there, with access to the significant energy resources needed to power AI-enabled infrastructure.

The facility’s first phase will be to deliver 168MW of capacity, with options to scale.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the facility will help the company scale its AI infrastructure globally, “while deepening our long-term investment in India’s economy”.

Chairman and managing director of Reliance, Mukesh Ambani, added that building India’s first built-to-suit AI data centre for a company of Meta’s scale “demonstrates India’s readiness to be at the forefront of the global AI revolution”.

The collaboration builds on a long-standing partnership between the pair, with Meta investing $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms in 2020.

Clean energy
The site will be powered by renewable energy and cooled with desalinated seawater. Meta is set to cover the full cost of supporting the facility.

It has struck a deal for around 1GW of new clean and renewable energy, partnering with domestic companies CleanMax and Fourth Partner Energy.

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China is reportedly plotting an outlay of around CNY2 trillion ($295 billion) over the next five years to build out data centres across the country, with state-owned telecoms operators tasked with managing the sites and vendor Huawei providing the bulk of the technology.

Bloomberg sources claim government agencies including the National Development and Reform Commission are drafting up plans to construct a network of “inter-connected computing hubs”, as part of a government initiative to boost domestic AI and increase competition with the US.

Operators China Mobile and China Telecom are named as being tasked with operating and connecting the bulk of the data centres, while suppliers including Huawei will be charged with providing at least 80% of the technology including AI chips.

The plan is in line with steps taken in recent years by the state to pump resources into domestic heavyweights like Huawei, effectively squeezing out US competitors such as Nvidia and AMD.

Funding for the plan will mainly come from sovereign debt including long-term special government bonds with more than a 10 year tenure and state funds for investment in strategic industries, added the sources.

In addition to the AI facilities, which will include data centres and faster mobile infrastructure, China also apparently plans to integrate the power grid to the project.

The planned investment figure does not include separate outlays planned by the country’s technology heavyweights including Alibaba and Tencent, added the sources.

Nvidia locked out
Notably, US AI companies are also planning for major AI investment. Meta Platform has set capex guidance of $125 billion to $145 billion for 2026, while Microsoft has committed to a $190 billion spend over the same period.

Robert Lea, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence said the big winner of China’s plan will be the nation’s economy, rather than private sector companies like Alibaba and Baidu.

“Domestic infrastructure suppliers including Huawei stand to benefit most, with Nvidia unlikely to get a look in,” he added.

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Nokia teamed up with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to modernise the operator’s mobile network with advanced 5G RAN capabilities, as part of broader ambitions around AI-enabled services.

Nokia stated it will support the rollout of low- and mid-band 5G in the country to help build “AI-ready” networks, serving Indosat’s customers nationwide.

The Finnish vendor pitched the partnership as “more than a network upgrade”, touting a commitment to enhancing digital experiences including immersive entertainment, gaming and everyday digital activities. It also pointed to advanced consumer and enterprise use cases because of a better network, spanning several key sectors.

The duo explained the network modernisation push will lay the infrastructure foundations for the country’s next phase of growth, with a shared mission “to turn connectivity into a platform for intelligence”.

This will be done through a deployment of AI-RAN, working with Nvidia to hold field trials in Indonesia by the end of 2026. It will also support Nokia’s work on new AI algorithms designed to improve spectral efficiency on Nvidia AI-RAN platforms.

Indosat added combining centralised AI factories and distributed AI-RAN infrastructure will advance its AI grid, creating a unified intelligence layer that distributes both AI and connectivity to millions.

Justin Hotard, CEO of Nokia, said together with Indosat and Nvidia, it is working to build a network that expands 5G, enables new AI driven services and creates long-term value.

“This partnership reflects a broader shift in the industry, as operators invest in networks that deliver high performance at scale while supporting greater efficiency, new business models and digital growth.”

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BT claimed to be the first UK company to join Anthropic’s Project Glasswing, a move it said strengthens cybersecurity for its networks and enables better protection against the latest AI threats for customers.

The operator made the announcement at the UK Government’s AI Adoption Summit at London Tech Week, with the country committing to accelerate AI usage across the economy.

BT stated its membership to Project Glasswing will give it access to Anthropic’s frontier AI model Claude Mythos Preview, strengthening protection against cybersecurity threats for its network and customers.

Anthropic announced last week it had expanded access to Mythos to 150 new companies across 15 countries, after initially restricting it to a group of private technology players.

BT explained Project Glasswing brings together “critical infrastructure providers” to secure data and systems, allowing organisations to use Anthropic’s safe AI systems to identify vulnerabilities and help to fix them before criminals can take advantage.

In a speech during the summit, BT CEO Allison Kirkby outlined the critical role of connectivity in ensuring the UK can seize the growth potential of AI, emphasising the operator’s commitment to working with the government to support “sovereign British AI capability so that the UK can be an AI maker and not just a taker”.

In line with its participation in Project Glasswing, BT said it prevents more than 4 million cyberattacks across its network every day.

CEO of BT Business Jon James added AI is changing cybersecurity fast and “businesses need trusted partners who can help them stay one step ahead”.

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French operators Bouygues Telecom, Free-Iliad Group and Orange reached a deal with Altice France to acquire SFR for a total enterprise value of €20.4 billion, sparking a major shake-up of the country’s telecoms sector.

The three would-be acquirers signed a memorandum of understanding with Altice France less than two months after entering into exclusive talks. An initial offer of €17 billion was rejected in October 2025.

Terms of the proposed deal remained unchanged from what was laid out in April, with Bouygues taking a 42% stake, Free-Iliad 31% and Orange 27%.

SFR’s consumer mobile and broadband units will be carved up between the consortium, with Bouygues to take control of the B2B segment.

With the deal expected to be subject to intense national and European regulation, breakup fees of between €100 million and €2 billion have been agreed, depending on the reason for any collapse and timing of termination of the deal.

Regulatory scrutiny is likely to be fierce because the transaction will reduce the number of players in the market from four to three, though there are signs traditional European regulatory resistance to deals which do so are beginning to lessen and the European Commission indicated an easing of corporate merger rules earlier this year.

The companies stated the proposed transaction would create value for all stakeholders, and ensure continued development of France’s infrastructure and digital ecosystem.

Combining SFR’s assets “is expected to generate significant synergies”, benefitting consumers and the overall digital ecosystem by bolstering the capacity to invest.

A consultation period will now be opened with relevant employee representative bodies. Definitive legal documents are expected to be signed in the second half of 2026 with completion expected in the second half of 2027, following regulatory clearance.

Big challenge
Kester Mann, director of consumer and connectivity at CCS Insight, believes the deal paves the way for the greatest shake-up in the French telecoms sector since the arrival of Iliad in 2012.

“The agreement appears a successful outcome for all parties. Bouygues, Orange and Iliad each gain important new assets in their pursuit for greater scale, while eliminating a major rival will reduce the competitive intensity of the market.”

He warned the biggest challenge would be to convince competition authorities the deal is positive for the French market.

“Several years ago, this would have felt like a herculean task. But the regulatory tide has steadily been turning favour of consolidation in Europe following recent deals approved in the UK and Spain. Although a lengthy probe is likely, it is surely odds-on to get the green light,” he added.

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Telenor is reportedly exploring a sale of its digital bank in Pakistan, marking a full exit from the country following the sale of its mobile unit which was completed in December 2025.

Bloomberg reported Telenor is working on offloading its 55% equity stake in Easypaisa Bank, which was formerly known as Telenor Microfinance Bank. According to sources, a sale could be worth “several hundred million dollars”.

Over the next month, Telenor will apparently invite initial offers from prospective bidders, although no final decision has been made on the fate of the stake.

The rest of Easypaisa is owned by Ant Group, and the mobile money service is popular for cash transfers in the nation.

In line with a strategy to dispose of businesses in Asia, Telenor sold its telecoms unit in the country for around $490 million to Pakistan Telecommunications Company.  

Selling its stake in the banking business would therefore end the Norwegian operator’s two decade long presence in the country.

In a comment cited by Bloomberg, analyst at DNB Carnegie Christoffer Wang Bjornsen said the move would be “well received by the financial community to see Telenor simplifying its Asian portfolio”.

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Amazon committed to invest more than €10 billion on upgrading its facilities in Europe with next-generation robotics, part of a wider push to modernise and expand its operations network in the continent.

Announced at the company’s Delivering the Future event in London, the technology giant stated it plans to create more jobs across the region, while using robotics to expand ultra-fast delivery options to more international cities and invest in employee upskilling.

Its pledge reflects a broader push to use AI and robotics to support its workforce, taking aim at “repetitive and physically demanding tasks”, freeing up employees to focus on higher skilled roles while customers get better service.

As part of its next-generation robotics development, Amazon introduced Proteus, an upgraded autonomous robot that is able to move items across different sites. Through AI advances, employees can apparently direct Proteus with plain, conversational text-based prompts without the need for technical commands or programming interfaces.

According to Amazon, once an employee instructs Proteus on what needs to be done, the robot figures out the priority, route and timing.

Proteus is designed to take on physically demanding tasks, move heavy carts and cover long distances. It is currently being piloted in Amazon labs, with deployment planned for the first half of 2027.

Through its €10 billion commitment, Amazon added it will expand Vulcan, its first robot with a sense of touch and STARK, a new robotics system that works alongside employees. STARK will be deployed across 15 sites in Europe by 2027.

This week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also talked up the robotics opportunity within industry, as he unveiled work on a new model for academics using hardware from Unitree and Sharpa.

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T-Mobile US officially opened a global capability centre (GCC) in Hyderabad, India, with plans to hire around 1,000 staff by 2027, its first such facility outside of its home market.

The Indian government stated T-Mobile, through its TMUS Global Solutions Technology subsidiary, opened a site spanning 250,000 square feet in the city, which is situated in the state of Telangana.

It will operate as a strategic innovation hub within its global network, focusing on software engineering, DevOps, product development, cloud technologies, AI, data analytics, cybersecurity and next-generation digital solutions.

Posting on X, minister for IT Sridhar Duddilla said T-Mobile’s GCC represented another significant milestone in Telangana’s growth as a technology and innovation destination.

“The decision by T-Mobile to expand its presence here reflects the confidence that global companies have in Telangana’s talent, business-friendly environment, and strong digital infrastructure.”

Chandra Gupta, VP IT operations at TMUS Global Solutions, added the company decided to locate the facility in Hyderabad as it offers “a combination of technology talent and an established innovation ecosystem aligned with the company’s long-term goals”.

The Economic Times of India reported the company has already onboarded more than 500 people at the facility,

According to Reuters, India’s GCCs have evolved from low-cost outsourcing hubs to offices for global companies, supporting parent companies in several functions.

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Telefonica chairman and CEO Marc Murtra (pictured, right) insisted European sovereignty will only be possible with simplified regulation and a commitment to building technology within the continent, while stressing strategic autonomy does not mean isolation.

Speaking at the 2026 Cercle d’Economia meeting held in Barcelona on a roundtable about AI and European technological sovereignty, Murtra argued Europe needs to accelerate the development of its own technologies to keep pace in a world shaped by AI, quantum computing and new autonomous systems.

Murtra said building out technologies had become a determining factor for countries’ economic competitiveness, productivity, resilience and “decision-making capacity”.

In this context, however, he does not believe taking such an approach will mean isolation on the global stage, rather it gives Europe the ability to develop and control critical capabilities in areas such as energy, digital infrastructure, semiconductors and AI.

“Strategic autonomy is the relevant concept. No economy is completely independent, but Europe must strengthen its capabilities to reduce excessive dependencies in key technologies,” he said.

Protect European values
Delving deeper into Europe’s needs, Murtra explained strategic autonomy requires combining investment, industrial capacity, innovation, talent and forming “a shared long-term vision”.

This vision, he added, should be centred on defending and preserving “very important values linked to democracy, human dignity and the ability to say what we think.”

On the point of regulation, the Telefonica executive believes simplifying rules and focus does not mean eliminating anything, but “rather prioritising what drives innovation, competitiveness and strategic autonomy”.

He concluded: “Europe has the GDP, the talent, the engineers, the companies and the institutions” to lead the next technological revolution.

Murtra’s comments coincided with a new European Commission (EC) proposal to boost the continent’s sovereignty, outlining renewed focus on semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source.

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The European Commission (EC) took the wraps off a sweeping new package outlining measures to boost the continent’s ambitions around semiconductors, AI, cloud and open source, as part of a bid to strengthen the bloc’s digital autonomy.

EC stated measures in the four areas will help Europe “become an AI continent”, established as a leader in research, development and adoption of AI.

It hopes the package will fast track ambitions around technology sovereignty and protect European digital independence, as part of a long-standing goal to reduce reliance on the US and Asia.

Starting with chips, the EC said it wants to secure the semiconductor base for Europe’s AI ambitions through the Chips Act 2.0, which is designed to speed up permitting, deepen cooperation with “like-minded partners” and introduce a new excellence label for Europe’s semiconductor regions.

It is an update of the original Chips Act, in force since 2023, which represented Europe’s response to vulnerabilities in the semiconductor supply chain.

Secondly, a new Cloud and AI Development Act is designed to aid the buildout of new data centres, streamline conditions for deploying facilities across the European Union (EU) and introduce a single EU-wide framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty. The wider aim is to triple the region’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years.

Through open source, the EC wants to strengthen digital autonomy, scaling up alternatives in priority areas, invest in skills, startups and digital infrastructure while support greater use of open source in public administration.

Finally, the EC put the focus on digitalising Europe’s energy system, pledging to define a roadmap in the sector to ensure data centres are integrated, while building sovereign and secure AI models.

Technological sovereignty
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the commission, said Europe “cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure”.

“This is about protecting our citizens, defending our interests and making our own choices. Europe has the talent, the research excellence, the industrial base and the Single Market. Together, we must turn these strengths into technological sovereignty.”

Before the package is put into force, the proposal will be negotiated by the European Parliament and Council of the EU. The commission will also launch a consultation process with member states.

Investment will be made through existing grants until 2028, while future funding is to be confirmed in the next EU budget. The EC has previously estimated a combined public-private investment of €120 billion by 2035 to rejuvenate the continent’s chip industry.

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Research company Sensor Tower estimated OpenAI’s ChatGPT crossed 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs) on its app in May 2026, becoming the fastest in history to reach the number.

In its State of Mobile Report 2026, Sensor Tower found ChatGPT beat the pace set by other popular apps including Google Maps, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube in hitting the 1 billion threshold, a milestone coming three years after launch.

The number represents a win for OpenAI in the battle for AI chatbot supremacy, with ChatGPT competing with the likes of Anthropic’s Claude and X’s Grok.

In April, OpenAI revealed it hit 900 million weekly active users as of December 2025 and API usage is more than 15 billion tokens per minute. However, it has not revealed official statistics for 2026.

Claude is coming
Sensor Tower noted Claude is beginning to gain traction. As of the second quarter of 2026, Anthropic’s offering hit 56 million MAUs for its app, representing growth of 640% year-on-year. This compared to 62% growth for ChatGPT.

Sensor Tower also noted US users of ChatGPT who installed Claude in the first three months of 2026 used the former app 5% less a month after installation, compared to the average use in the prior eight months.

“Claude’s growth could be driven by significant model advancements in the past year, or rising consumer sentiment after the announcement of OpenAI’s partnership with the Department of War in Q1 2026,” Sensor Tower stated.

Anthropic filed for a US initial public offering this week, with OpenAI expected to follow imminently.

Sensor Tower found Elon Musk’s Grok had 50 million app MAUs.

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Telefonica reached a deal to buy back rural backhaul provider LineoX after selling the business to investment group Asterion Industrial Partners more than six years ago.

Telefonica stated LineoX operates one of Spain’s leading rural microwave link networks, providing critical backhauling infrastructure for mobile connectivity, particularly in rural and less densely populated areas.

Asterion acquired the “underlying portfolio” of microwave radio links from Telefonica in 2020 through a carve out transaction and has operated the business as an independent infrastructure platform.

It has also been integrated within a broader wholesale telecoms group alongside Axion, spanning radio links, towers, broadcasting and fibre transport.

Telefonica, which did not reveal the value of the transaction, stated it has remained a partner and anchor client of LineoX since the sale, reflecting a commitment to network performance, service continuity and reliability.

Borja Ochoa, CEO of Telefonica Spain added the deal to acquire the unit is fully aligned with its strategy.

“Our focus is to rigorously strengthen control over the capabilities that are critical to our network, our resilience and our long-term leadership, so that we can provide more and better services to our customer.”

He added LineoX is a highly relevant platform for rural connectivity in Spain, and its integration will reinforce its ability to continue investing in the evolution of its infrastructure.

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Telstra teamed up with Google to bolster digital infrastructure across Australia and Asia-Pacific, using a combination of fibre and subsea network integration to tap into growing demands for AI technology.

The partnership will see Google work with Telstra on its fibre backbone Aura network, securing inter-city dark fibre capacity, and target new opportunities “along some of Australia’s key connectivity corridors”. The increase in capacity is intended to give more Australian businesses and households the opportunity to connect faster and more securely to the rest of the world.

The Aura network is described by Telstra as the “backbone of Australia’s digital future”, run by its InfraCo division, providing ultrafast connectivity between cities and remote regions. The operator has already laid 8,000km of the network, which will increase to 14,000km when complete.

Connectivity hub
On the subsea side, Telstra will join Google’s Pacific Connect and Australia Connect initiatives to use subsea fibre pairs on the Tabua, Proa and Bulikula subsea systems, which provide the country with links to Japan, the Pacific Islands and the US, reinforcing the nation’s potential as a connectivity hub.

Through the integration of terrestrial and subsea, the duo touted benefits to security and resilience, as they can remove single points of network failure.

Telstra said it partnered with Google to further advance the technology giant’s AI capabilities in Australia, while enabling the operator to deliver “diverse and secure subsea pathways” to ensure networks are equipped to handle the growing demands of AI applications and workloads.

Telstra added underlying infrastructure must evolve to securely and reliably support data flows not only within Australia but across key international corridors.

Steve Worrall, CEO of Telstra Digital Infrastructure said “the partnership is about enhancing our national capability and ensuring that Australia remains seamlessly connected to the global economy”. 

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Liberty Global appointed Stephen van Rooyen (pictured) to take charge of its newly formed telecoms company Ziggo Group, which will combine VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands with Telenet in Belgium.

Liberty Global stated van Rooyen, who is the current CEO of VodafoneZiggo, will take control of the joint entity on 1 September, ahead of planned listing of the company in Amsterdam in 2027.

The executive was credited by Liberty Global for leading “a turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months”, leaning on extensive European telecoms and media leadership experience.

He previously spent more than 17 years at Sky, serving as CEO of Sky UK & Ireland and CCO of Sky Group.

As part of preparations for the new entity, Liberty Global also named Jany Fruytier from its Swiss operator Sunrise as CFO. Fruytier has held the equivalent position at Sunrise since 2020, playing a key role in the growth and listing of listing of the business.

Liberty Global struck a deal to buy the 50% stake in VodafoneZiggo it did not own from Vodafone Group earlier this year.

It then declared it would set up Ziggo Group, which would own 100% of VodafoneZiggo and Telenet. As part of the buyout transaction, Vodafone took a 10% stake in Ziggo Group.

The joint entity will have 13 million customers, generating €6.6 billion in revenue.

Expertise and experience
Alongside his responsibilities at Ziggo Group, van Rooyen will retain his role at VodafoneZiggo.

Mike Fries, Liberty Global chairman and CEO said van Rooyen’s experience and Fruytier’s expertise gives it the right platform to deliver on the planned listing.

“Together, they will lead two highly complementary businesses, and we see significant opportunities in what these two strong brands can achieve together,” he said.

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SoftBank Group committed to an investment of up to €75 billion to bolster AI data centre infrastructure in France, with the first phase of the project set to deliver 3.1GW of capacity.

SoftBank announced the investment at the 2026 Choose France summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, marking the Japanese company’s largest AI infrastructure investments in Europe.

It has committed an initial €45 billion investment in the Hauts-de-France region, providing 3.1GW of capacity to data centres in Dunkirk, Bosquel and Bouchain. SoftBank will also develop additional sites, “reinforcing the country’s role as a leading European hub for next-generation digital infrastructure”.

For the Dunkirk deployment, SoftBank partnered with Schneider Electric to accelerate its buildout, while developing a large-scale industrial production cluster.

The cluster at the Port of Dunkirk will be a “key industrial pillar” for the company’s AI infrastructure programme in France, including the build out of two facilities. One will be operated by SoftBank to manufacture enclosures, while the other will be operated by Schneider Electric to integrate data centre power modules.

The duo explained the partnership will combine SoftBank’s robotics and automation capabilities with Schneider’s industrial expertise and local supply chain network to support the deployment of next-generation AI data centres at scale.

The industrial cluster is also designed to support Dunkirk’s ambition to become a leading hub for robotics, advanced manufacturing and industrial innovation.

Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank, said AI is entering a new era and countries that build infrastructure for this transformation “will shape the future of technology, industry and society”.

“SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France. With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe.”

The company said it will also work with SB Energy and other strategic partners to deliver the projects.

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