Airtel, Perplexity AI team up to offer 1-yr free plan to 390 mn users

This is Perplexity's first collaboration with an Indian telecom operator as part of its efforts to boost adoption in India, which is the world's second largest internet market

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India's second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, on Thursday announced a partnership with Perplexity, an AI-powered search platform, to provide a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro for all its customers, CNBC-TV18 reported.

 

Perplexity Pro to be free for Airtel's 390 million users

 

Perplexity is an artificial intelligence-based search and answer engine that offers real-time, conversational responses and moves beyond traditional search results by delivering directly consumable answers.

 

According to the report, all Airtel users across mobile, Direct-to-Home (DTH), and broadband services will get complimentary access to Perplexity Pro, a service that typically costs ₹17,000 annually. The offer will be made available via the Airtel Thanks app.

 

This marks Perplexity's first collaboration with an Indian telecom operator as part of its strategy to expand adoption in India, the world’s second-largest internet market. As per data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Airtel currently serves more than 390 million users, second only to Reliance Jio’s 475 million.

 

Airtel calls it a 'first-of-its-kind' Gen-AI partnership

 

Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, said, “We’re thrilled to announce a game-changing partnership with Perplexity, bringing their cutting-edge AI capabilities exclusively for Airtel customers. This collaboration will bring the powerful and real-time knowledge tool for millions of users at their fingertips, at no extra cost. This first-of-its-kind Gen-AI partnership in India is focused on helping our customers navigate the emerging trends in the digital world with confidence and ease.”

 

Perplexity expands global reach through telecom deals

 

Perplexity has previously partnered with global players like SoftBank and T-Mobile. Speaking about the latest deal, Perplexity’s Co-founder Aravind Srinivas said, “This partnership is an exciting way to make accurate, trustworthy, and professional-grade AI accessible to more people in India—whether a student, working professional, or managing a household. With Perplexity Pro, users get a smarter, easier way to find information, learn, and get more done.”

 

According to Moneycontrol, the partnership comes amid growing competition in the AI space in India. Google has also been offering one-year free subscriptions to Gemini Pro and Veo3 to college students in India.

 

Perplexity's Motorola, T-Mobile deals widen access

 

Earlier this year, Perplexity also announced a global partnership with Motorola. The rollout includes embedding its platform on Motorola’s Edge 60 series and Razr smartphones, giving users access to advanced AI features such as GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Sonar, along with unlimited file uploads and smart shopping tools.

 

With its Airtel partnership, Perplexity joins a growing trend of AI firms aligning with telecom providers to scale rapidly in emerging markets.