Airtel Bundles Perplexity Pro to Offer AI Search to 360M

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Bharti Airtel has partnered with AI search engine Perplexity to offer free 12-month Perplexity Pro subscriptions (worth ₹17,000/year) to all 360 million Airtel customers across mobile, broadband, and DTH platforms.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas highlighted its scale impact: “This partnership is an exciting way to make accurate, trustworthy and professional‑grade AI accessible to more people in India”.

For Perplexity, the deal provides rapid market penetration: downloads in India surged 600% YoY to 2.8 million in Q2, and MAUs grew 640%—overtaking rivals and establishing India as a top growth market..

Analysts note that Airtel is leveraging AI to enhance brand value and increase customer stickiness. The telecom operator can collect usage insights, launch tiered AI offerings, and monetize future upgrades.

By integrating AI services into its offering, Airtel sets a new standard for telcos—shifting from connectivity to intelligence, and redefining telecom marketing for the AI era.