OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity roll out free AI plans in India as competition intensifies in the world’s biggest digital market.
OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity are competing fiercely for artificial intelligence users in India. The companies are offering free AI subscriptions to attract millions of new users.
India is the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest-growing digital markets. Experts say the free offers are also aimed at collecting valuable multilingual data for AI training.
India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world. The country has about 730 million smartphone users.
Indians consume an average of 21 gigabytes of mobile data every month. They also enjoy some of the lowest data prices globally, at about 9.2 cents per gigabyte.
To attract price-sensitive users, tech companies are offering premium AI tools at no cost. This strategy has helped them rapidly increase adoption.
In November, Google began offering its Gemini AI Pro subscription for free. The plan normally costs around $400 per year.
The free Gemini AI Pro offer is available for 18 months. It applies to about 500 million users of Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom provider.
Google also added India to the list of countries eligible for its discounted AI Plus plan. This further expanded access to Google’s AI tools.
OpenAI has also introduced a major free offer in India. The company made its ChatGPT Go plan free for one year nationwide.
ChatGPT Go allows extended usage compared to basic plans but still has limits. Before the free rollout, the plan cost about $54 per year in India.
The free ChatGPT Go plan is only available in India. Users in more than 100 other countries still pay for the service.
Data shows that these free plans have significantly increased AI usage. Many users are now using AI tools daily.
According to Sensor Tower data compiled for Reuters, ChatGPT’s daily active users in India rose by 607% year-on-year. The number reached about 73 million users last week.
This figure is more than double ChatGPT’s daily users in the United States. India has now become its biggest market globally.
Google’s Gemini AI has also seen strong growth in India. Daily users rose by 15% after the Reliance Jio partnership began.
Gemini now has about 17 million daily users in India. This compares to around 3 million daily users in the United States.
Perplexity has also joined the competition with a free offer.It made its Pro plan free for one year for Airtel users in India.
Perplexity Pro usually costs $200 per year globally. The plan provides unlimited access to advanced AI research tools.
India now accounts for more than one-third of Perplexity’s global daily active users. This is a sharp increase from just 7% last year.
OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. The companies have remained silent on the competitive strategy.
OpenAI’s India executive, Pragya Misra, said the free ChatGPT plan reflects the company’s India-first commitment. She said the goal is to make AI tools more accessible.
However, AI analysts believe data collection is a major motivation. They say India’s language diversity is highly valuable for AI training.
Indian users communicate in mixed languages and dialects. This helps AI models learn complex real-world communication patterns.
Sagar Vishnoi of Future Shift Labs said free plans help fill gaps in AI training data. He noted that user behavior in India is often missing from existing datasets.
Free digital services have worked well in India before. Telecom and media companies have used similar strategies in the past.
Reliance Jio gained over 500 million users after launching with free data and calls in 2016. The approach transformed India’s telecom industry.
Reliance and Disney also offered free cricket streaming before merging their India media businesses. The move helped attract massive audiences.
ChatGPT currently leads AI app engagement in India. About 46% of its monthly users open the app daily.
Perplexity and Gemini have lower daily engagement rates. Perplexity stands at 20%, while Gemini records about 14%.
A PhD student in Hyderabad, Anees Hassan, uses ChatGPT and Gemini for several hours daily. He relies on the tools for research, writing, and presentations.
Hassan said free plans are useful but come with concerns. He worries about data privacy and AI training.
He said he has opted out of sharing his data for AI training. He believes free services often come with hidden costs.
Source : Reuters.com
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