ChatGPT at ₹399, Perplexity for free: Inside Big Tech’s AI subscription war for India

Over the past few months, global AI players have made strong India-focused moves to expand their user base in what is the world’s fastest-growing AI market. In fact, AI pioneer Sam Altman reckons that India will soon surpass the US in AI adoption. 

In two of the most high-profile developments this year, OpenAI rolled out a cheaper India-only tier (at Rs 399 per month) for ChatGPT, replete with INR billing and UPI Autopay features, while Perplexity AI partnered with leading telco Bharti Airtel to give away its annual Pro subscription worth Rs 17,000 for free to the latter’s ~400 million users. 

Almost instantly, Perplexity climbed to the top of Apple App Store’s ‘free apps’ ranking in India. By August-end, it had also managed to grow its market share in the country to ~15%—trailing only ChatGPT’s industry-leading 77% share, according to StatCounter. 

For nearly two decades, India has been seen as a ‘user farm’—huge numbers of active users (DAUs/MAUs), but relatively low monetisation compared to the US or Europe. And Big Tech continues to view India primarily as a scale play to showcase to public and private market investors, rather than a major revenue driver. But with over 800 million internet users, and China remaining largely off-limits, India, quite naturally, becomes their next big market. 

But tech experts The CapTable spoke to argue that this isn’t just about shoring up user numbers. Global AI firms are also competing for chips, compute, energy, data centers, and overall influence with sovereign governments. Having India’s massive user base strengthens their case when lobbying for resources (e.g., Nvidia chips) or shaping global AI policy or gaining legitimacy in new territories.