Perplexity just locked in a massive India deal.
It partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer a free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription worth $200 to all 360 million Airtel subscribers. Airtel confirmed the deal is exclusive. No other telcos in India get this access.
This is part of Perplexity’s global telco expansion, which includes SoftBank in Japan and SK Telecom in South Korea. India offers volume that Perplexity can’t get elsewhere. 
Perplexity’s India downloads jumped 600% year-over-year in Q2 to 2.8 million. ChatGPT saw a 587% rise to 46.7 million. Monthly active users in India rose 640% for Perplexity versus 350% for ChatGPT.
India became Perplexity’s largest MAU market last quarter with 3.7 million users. ChatGPT still leads with 19.8 million MAUs there.
Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch
Perplexity is also working with Paytm, the Indian fintech giant with 500 million downloads, integrating its AI search into the Paytm app.
CEO Aravind Srinivas planned to hire an Indian executive but paused after an “overwhelming” response. He pledged $1 million investment and five hours a week to an AI group in India.
Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch
Sources say Perplexity is considering offering the AI search engine to Indian students next.
India has few local AI search startups but a large, tech-savvy user base. Google even launched India-first AI search features like AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Revenue is still a hurdle. Globally, ChatGPT’s in-app revenue soared 731% year-over-year to $773 million in Q2. Perplexity’s in-app revenue rose 300% but reached only $8 million.
Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch
India’s price-sensitive market makes monetization tough. ChatGPT’s Indian in-app revenue jumped 800% in Q2 to $9 million. Perplexity hasn’t made notable income in India yet but hopes partnerships like Airtel’s will increase paid subscribers short term.
The Airtel deal could boost Perplexity’s user growth and global presence. But turning that into solid revenue is the next challenge.
Srinivas did not respond to requests for comment.
