India students get free AI: Is it data, lock-in, or adoption strategy?

From ChatGPT and Gemini to Copilot, Big Tech is handing students free premium AI in India. Firms call it adoption and feedback; critics warn of data capture and lock-in

The launch of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT 3.5 nearly three years ago forced technology companies worldwide to hasten the deployment of their own large language models (LLMs) to users.

 

Since then, despite the costs of developing new LLMs, most tech companies have begun offering free pro versions of these services to users worldwide. The trend has continued in India as well, where nearly all companies have offered free subscriptions to their LLMs for a limited time, specifically for the student community.

 

The first in the block was Google’s Gemini, which said it would offer students aged 18 or older a free