Why Perplexity, Gemini and ChatGPT are free in India: A distribution war, not generosity

New Delhi: OpenAI, Google and Perplexity are rolling out a year or more of premium AI access in India at zero cost through limited-time promos and telecom bundles. 

It looks generous. It is actually a land-grab for attention, habits and distribution in the world’s next billion-user market.

In the past fortnight, OpenAI introduced a 12-month free plan for “ChatGPT Go” in India. Eligible users can redeem it on the web and mobile during a limited window that started on November 4, 2025. 

Google has gone even bigger on duration. Through a Reliance Jio tie-up, users on select unlimited 5G plans get 18 months of Gemini “AI Pro” at no extra cost, a plan marketed at Rs 35,100 for the period. The bundle includes access to Gemini 2.5 Pro and extra Google storage. 

Perplexity is doing the same play with Airtel. Its “Pro” tier, listed as an Rs 17,000 value, is free for 12 months to Airtel’s entire base, about 360 million customers, via Airtel Thanks. The redemption window runs from July 17, 2025, to January 17, 2026. 

India offers unmatched scale, a young user base, fast-rising 5G coverage and a long history of big tech distribution via telcos. Bundles slash the cost of customer acquisition and deliver daily usage, which matters more than raw sign-ups. If AI assistants become the new “homepage,” winning default status on SIMs, Android phones, and super-apps is the whole game. The Jio and Airtel partnerships do exactly that by putting Gemini and Perplexity a tap away inside carrier apps and plan benefits. 

First, habit formation. A free year builds muscle memory for prompts, voice queries and multimodal use. 

Once a user’s workflows—search, summaries, study help, and content creation—sit inside one assistant, churn drops, and conversion to paid is easier. 

OpenAI’s India promo is explicit about the 12-month clock, with redemption through mainstream app stores to maximise uptake.

Second, a moat for distribution. Telcos deliver reach in weeks that pure-play apps may take years to achieve. Airtel is positioning Perplexity as a network-wide value-add; Jio is gating Gemini Pro behind 5G plans to lift ARPU and retention. Both models anchor AI inside the monthly bill, not an optional add-on. 

Third, product improvement. At scale, India throws up hard queries: price-sensitive shopping, vernacular content, exam prep, government forms, cricket stats, and hyperlocal news. High-volume, real-world usage helps stress-test retrieval, guardrails and Indian-language performance. It’s why Google has run separate India-specific promotions for students this year, seeding early-career adoption. 

Fourth, enterprise pull-through. Once users adopt AI at home and on campus, CIOs face fewer change-management hurdles. Google’s Jio bundle already nods to business upside; Gemini for Workspace and Google Cloud benefits are part of the broader tie-up narrative. Expect more OEM, browser and workplace bundles to follow. 
Who pays for “free”

Subsidies today are a mix of marketing budgets, carrier promotions and platform credits bundled with cloud spend. In return, telcos get premium-plan upgrades and lower churn; platforms get default placement, daily active users and brand affinity. When the clock runs out, pricing kicks in, or the bundle gets renewed, depending on conversion data. 

The public terms make the fine print clear: eligibility windows, age bands for some offers, and the requirement to add a payment method in certain cases. Users should check app-store pages and carrier FAQs before activating. 

These giveaways are also defensive. Perplexity is pushing into AI search; Google must protect default query share on Android; OpenAI wants to anchor everyday use ahead of rival assistants and on-device models. By wiring into Jio and Airtel, each player secures a distribution lane that is hard for others to dislodge without an equivalent bundle. 

Watch this space

 • Expect OEM and browser defaults. Preloads on new 5G Android phones and default assistant prompts at device setup would be the logical next step.
 • More student and youth SKUs. The 18–25 cohort is already a focus in the Gemini-Jio offer; education bundles will likely broaden.
 • Vernacular upgrades. The next leg is better Hindi and Indic-language performance across voice and text. Usage at the India scale is the quickest path to raise quality.
 • Post-promo pricing tests. Expect introductory paid tiers, co-pay bundles with telcos, or ad-supported variants once free periods end. 

This isn’t charity. It is the opening move in a distribution war to make one assistant your daily habit before rivals can. In India, free is the fastest way to win that race—and telcos are the fastest way to make free feel default.