Airtel has officially partnered with Perplexity AI to offer Perplexity Pro free for one year to its ~360–390 million users across prepaid, postpaid, broadband, and DTH services. The ₹17,000‑per‑year AI tool now comes at zero cost—if you can stand the app loading time. This is India’s first full-scale AI‑telco collab, and Perplexity immediately shot to #1 on India’s App Store—beating ChatGPT for once.
So Airtel says: “Enjoy pro AI search, image generation, research dashboards, GPT‑4.1 and Claude access on us.” We say: “Hope your OTP arrives before your sanity evaporates.” This giveaway is exclusive—no other telecom in India can offer this AI fairy dust. Essentially Airtel just said: “You can have AI, but only if you keep paying that ₹399 plan.”
🧠 Roast & Reality Check
Let us unpack the real deal:
- They claim free AI for 12 months, but your Airtel Thanks app might crash before showing the offer. Congratulations, you now have access to AI and frustration at the same time.
- Perplexity Pro includes advanced features: GPT‑4.1, Claude, image generation, PDF parsing—all worth ₹17,000 annually. Airtel gives it away like it is samosa with chutney. Meanwhile, our recharge still fails mid-payment.
- Regulations? Privacy? OpenAI competition? Analysts think this is move to beat Jio and OpenAI at once. But can Perplexity explain why your bill doubled after AI got in? Probably not.
India got the AI‑sampler platter: AI-powered search, content creation, reasoning tools—all free‑ish. Our network might lag, but hey, the AI illusions are delicious.
💀 Final Blunt Thoughts
We love free tools and pretend “AI access for all” sounds noble. But Indian UX still lurks in 2010: “Transaction failed,” “Session timed out,” “Reconnect in 5 seconds.” Yet, imagine getting futuristic AI from that same network. It is like riding a Tesla bullock cart.
So please go claim the offer before it expires (some trending sources say claim before mid‑Jan 2026), use the AI tools while they work, and comment below if your Perplexity bot also lagged and ghosted mid‑search. Because reality is digital, but network is still analog.
⚠️ Disclaimer
This article is a satirical tech review intended for humour, commentary, and entertainment. All opinions expressed are personal or possibly generated by an AI going through a midlife crisis.