Perplexity AI: In July, it collaborated with Airtel, India’s second – largest mobile network operator, to provide an annual Pro – version subscription service worth approximately 17,000 rupees (about 1,365 yuan) for free, kicking off a series of similar partnerships.

  1. Jio and Google: At the beginning of November, they cooperated to offer 18 – month free access to the Gemini Pro service for users aged 18 to 25. The face – value of this service is about 35,000 rupees (about 2,810 yuan).
  2. OpenAI: Last week, it announced that it would grant millions of Indian users one – year free access to the ChatGPT “Go” version. This promotion started on November 4, 2025. The “Go” version includes features such as GPT – 5, advanced image generation, which usually require payment. After the 12 – month promotion period ends, users will be charged the standard monthly fee of 399 rupees (about 32 yuan) for ChatGPT Go. These packages bundle AI products with low – cost data plans, with a minimum monthly consumption of less than 50 Indian rupees (about 4.3 yuan).

Reasons for Tech Giants’ Actions

  1. Long – term Investment and Market Bet: Analysts believe that this is a long – term bet on India’s digital future. First, they aim to get Indian users addicted to generative AI and then launch paid services later. India has a large user base and a young demographic, and its digital market is open and competitive. Global tech companies take this opportunity to attract new users to participate in the training of their AI models.
  2. Data Acquisition and Model Optimization: There are many young Internet users in India, and the volume of data traffic is large. By bundling AI tools with data plans, companies can obtain a large amount of first – hand data, which helps optimize the performance of AI models. It is estimated that by 2027, the number of AI practitioners in India will increase from about 650,000 to over 1.27 million, and the demand for jobs in related fields is high. India has a rich variety of application scenarios, providing valuable cases for the world.
  3. Market Potential and Profit Expectations: India’s large user base brings great potential. Even if only a small percentage of free users convert to paid subscribers, it can still generate considerable revenue.

Advantages of the Indian Market

  1. Network Coverage and User Growth: India’s plan to popularize Internet access and the “Digital India” initiative has a wide coverage. As of April 2024, 95.15% of villages in India have access to 3G/4G mobile networks, and the total number of Internet users has increased from 251.59 million in March 2014 to 954.4 million in March 2024.
  2. Data Traffic Tariffs and User Characteristics: India has the lowest data traffic tariffs in the world. Its Internet users are mainly young people, most of whom are under 24 years old. They are a generation that lives, works, and socializes on the Internet and relies on smartphones on a daily basis.