Top Stories· August 18, 2026 at 01:45 p.m.
Perplexity's Free AI Offer in India Yields Lasting Users and Revenue
Key takeaways
- Perplexity saw a 625% increase in downloads in July 2025
- Monthly active users more than doubled to 8.9 million in July
- Spending increased by 60% from the period when the Airtel offer was available
Perplexity, an AI company, partnered with Airtel, India's second-largest telecom operator, to offer a free 12-month subscription to Perplexity Pro. The promotion resulted in a significant increase in downloads and monthly active users in India. Despite a decline in downloads after the offer ended, ongoing usage has remained resilient, and spending has risen. The experiment serves as an early test of whether bundling paid AI services can create lasting users and revenue.
