Brazil's Vivo partners with Google to offer free Gemini AI

Brazil's largest telecommunications company is betting that free artificial intelligence will become the next battleground for wireless customers, partnering with Google to bundle Gemini access directly into mobile plans across a nation where smartphone penetration vastly outpaces computer ownership. The deal marks a striking shift in how telecom giants are competing in emerging markets, abandoning traditional data speed wars for control over which AI assistant customers use daily. If the strategy succeeds in locking in millions of Brazilian users, it could reshape how telecommunications companies monetize their most valuable asset: direct access to consumers' digital lives.

Telecompaper·Jul 9