Perplexity, a search-focused AI startup, is racing to catch up with OpenAI, and sees India as a shortcut.

The company has partnered with Bharti Airtel to offer a free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription, worth US$200, to all 360 million Airtel subscribers.

This move is part of Perplexity’s global expansion push, with similar deals in place with SoftBank in Japan and SK Telecom in South Korea.

In Q2 2025, Perplexity’s app downloads in India jumped 600% year-over-year to 2.8 million, and monthly active users rose 640% to 3.7 million, making India its largest market by Monthly Active Users (MAUs).

In comparison, OpenAI’s ChatGPT still leads with 19.8 million MAUs and 46.7 million downloads in the country.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

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