New Delhi: Recently, we have seen that many of the AI tools are offering their premium subscription plans that are worth thousands of rupees, but no one has asked why all of these AI tools are giving their premium subscription plans to Indian users for free. This move follows a similar announcement in recent weeks from Google and Perplexity AI, which has partnered with the local Indian mobile companies to give users a year or more of free access to their AI tools. Perplexity is tied up with the country’s second-largest mobile network provider, Airtel, while Google has partnered with Reliance Jio, India’s largest telephony giant, to bundle free or discounted AI tools with the monthly data packs.
Analysts stated such offers shouldn’t be mistaken for generosity as they are calculated investments and long-term bets on India’s digital future. The plan is to get Indians hooked on generative AI before asking them to pay for it. What India offers is scale and a young audience, adding that other big markets like China might rival India in terms of the number of users, but its tightly regulated tech environment limits foreign access. India, by contrast, offers an open and competitive digital market, and global tech is seizing the opportunity to enlist millions of the latest users here to train their AI models.
India has over 900 million internet users and offers some of the world’s cheapest data. Its online population is young; most internet users are under the age of 24, belonging to a generation that lives, works and socialises online, using smartphones. Bundling these AI tools with the data packs creates a massive opportunity for the tech companies, given that India’s data consumption outpaces much of the world. The more Indians use these platforms, the more first-hand data companies can access. Until then, the global AI companies will be hoping that by offering these freebies, they can replicate India’s past experience of onboarding millions of new users with deeply discounted internet data. While AI is unlikely to follow the heavily monetised model and is instead expected to be adopted as a low-cost, value-driven service, the country’s sheer volumes offer promise.
