Airtel offers free 1-year Perplexity Pro subscription to all customers

Bharti Airtel on Thursday (17 July) announced a strategic partnership with Perplexity, an AI-powered search and answer engine, to offer a complimentary one-year subscription to Perplexity Pro for all Airtel customers.

This subscription, typically priced at Rs 17,000 annually, will be available to Airtel’s 360 million users, including mobile, Wi-Fi, and DTH subscribers, via the Airtel Thanks App.

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Free reward

Airtel customers can subscribe to it through the rewards section of the Airtel Thanks app. Perplexity Pro, positioned as a powerful productivity tool, will be available at at zero cost for Airtel users.

This marks Perplexity’s first partnership with a telecom operator in India as part of its broader strategy to accelerate adoption in the world’s second-largest internet market.

The offer aims to appeal to a diverse user base, including students, professionals, homemakers, and frequent travellers.

Over the past year, Perplexity has entered into similar agreements with companies such as SoftBank and T-Mobile.

Perplexity also partnered with digital payments giant Paytm in February to integrate its AI answer engine into the payments app.

Pro features unlocked

Perplexity, an AI startup based in the US, is an AI-powered search and answer, similar to ChatGPT and Grok.

Its Pro version provides enhanced features, including access to advanced AI models such as GPT-4.1 and Claude, deep research capabilities, daily pro searches, file upload and analysis, image generation, and Perplexity Labs — a feature that transforms user ideas into structured content.

Unlike traditional search engines that return a list of web links, Perplexity delivers clear, concise, and verified answers in conversational language, offering a smarter, more intuitive way to find information and make informed decisions.

The platform is available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and web browsers.

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Broad user appeal

Airtel’s decision to offer Perplexity Pro for free may be a strategic move to attract new customers and curb subscriber erosion, particularly in the face of intense competition from Mukesh Ambani’s Jio.

“We’re thrilled to announce a game-changing partnership with Perplexity, bringing their cutting-edge AI capabilities exclusively to Airtel customers,” said Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, in a statement.

“This collaboration brings a powerful, real-time knowledge tool to millions of users at their fingertips, at no extra cost. This first-of-its-kind Gen-AI partnership in India is focused on empowering our customers to navigate emerging digital trends with confidence and ease,” he added.

“This partnership is an exciting way to make accurate, trustworthy, and professional-grade AI more accessible across India—whether you're a student, working professional, or managing a household,” said Aravind Srinivas, Co-founder and CEO of Perplexity, as quoted by Moneycontrol.

“With Perplexity Pro, users gain a smarter, easier way to discover information, learn, and accomplish more,” he added.

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Stiff competition

This development comes just days after another major AI subscription offer was rolled out in India.

Notably, Google recently announced a free one-year subscription to its premium AI tools for college students in India.

On July 15, Google announced a free one-year subscription to the company’s AI Pro plan for students aged 18 and over in the country. This would otherwise cost them Rs 19,500.

This enables students in the country to access its most advanced AI model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, along with expanded access to Google’s AI products.