Airtel is Giving Perplexity Pro Worth ₹17,000 for Free: Social Platforms Are Flooding

Bharti Airtel has made India’s digital realm flip upside down by announcing the tie-up with the most popular AI answer engine, Perplexity, and the initiative to provide all of its 360 million users a free one-year subscription of Perplexity Pro on its mobile, broadband, and DTH platforms. This subscription that is usually worth 17,000 rupees a year is being offered freely by Airtel users through the Airtel Thanks app, opening the world of more advanced generative AI research to ordinary Indians in an unprecedented connect level.

 

Perplexity Pro is not one of those ordinary AI chatbots. Users can use such powerful models as GPT-4.1 and Claude, deep research tools, real-time data references, file analysis, image generation, and Perplexity Labs, which allow turning ideas into a draft, visualization, or code. The site goes beyond reference lists; it provides answers in an ordered, reference-substantiated form in a conversational style. Whether it is a student and they have to summarize articles or it is a professional and they have to make reports about clients, the tool will result in huge productivity and a smarter process.

 

Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, declared the collaboration as a game-changer pointing out that it will enable customers to be in control of the digital world, in a place of confidence and comfort. Moving ahead, Aravind Srinivas, the CEO of Perplexity, stressed that the shift will allow more Indian people (be it a student, a working professional, a household manager) to access professional-grade AI.

 

Buzz and Meme Reactions on Twitter

The announcement was fast becoming the new trend in Twitter. Lots of users, particularly students, began making light of the fact that it will take a study buddy that does not judge (memes of an Airtel SIM user bidding farewell to spending long hours at the library and experiencing the stresses of a group project were spreading like wild fire). Screenshots of pitch deck and mails typed within seconds were tweeted by professionals with captions ranging from, “My Airtel recharge finally got my work done at the office!”, “Mukesh Ambani to Jio: It's time you switched on your AI now”.

 

Some tech analysts have noted that, a day later after Google provided college students a free Gemini Pro, Airtel is even greater, and anyone active can take advantage of them, a move that is being branded as the AI arms race in India. Various meme accounts jokingly posted side-by-sides of charged phones as compared to the supposedly older generation Googlers, mocking that Gen Z does homework, and Millennials did hard work.

 

What are the Differentiators of the Offer? 

1. Broadest Reach: The deal is offered to all users of Airtel, whether student, professional, businessperson or housewife, without any additional costs or other commercial demands. It is a chance in which Airtel rewards loyalty and invites users to a deeper integration into its ecosystem.
2. Increase in Productivity: Early testers have indicated that they can zoom through assignments, research notes, meeting summary, and revision guides swam through with the assistance of Perplexity Pro.
3. Easy Claiming Process: Users simply enter the Airtel Thanks app, check their Perplexity Pro offer in the Rewards section, and they activate their 12-month subscription by a button click.
4. Extra Cost is Zero This is a direct one off saving of 17000 rupees a year per user which is unheard of in this competitive telecom and edtech arena.

 

Reactions of Netizens  

Feedback across social platforms is overwhelmingly positive. This move,  as working professionals describe, is like “having an extra team member who works 24/7.”. Some of the users, though, noted whether data will be private, and others should not be too naive to trust any AI facts unless you make sure that certain information is critical.

 

Here are some notable social media posts and reactions on AirtelAi initiative that people are loving and relating with:

 

"First Jio gave me free data, now Airtel giving me free AI. My phone is officially smarter than me.”

 

"When AI meets 5G — now even my “what is pani puri?” search loads before I finish craving it! Perplexity + Airtel = Buffering ko bhi ab jobless kar diya! "

 

“That’s a win for the curious minds! 1-year Pro version of Perplexity free for Airtel users? Love to see Indian telcos backing AI-driven knowledge like this “

 

"College group chats when Airtel drops Perplexity Pro for free: ‘So now who’s going to cite sources? AI, bro. Always AI.’ "

 

"Drafted a client email, researched the topic, and summarized 3 articles in 5 minutes. Airtel x Perplexity is the real productivity hack."

 

"12 months of @perplexity_ai free with Airtel. Is this @AravSrinivas’s Jio moment for AI in India? Give people a taste — and they’ll stop Googling. They’ll start thinking with AI. Massive move for AI adoption."

 

"After free Apple TV & Amazon Prime subscriptions… Now Airtel is offering free Perplexity Pro?! Absolutely crazy stuff from Airtel lately. Who needs paid AI when your phone plan just leveled up to genius mode? "

 

In conclusion, Airtel and Perplexity collaboration will take a great step in democratizing advanced AI in India. With Airtel it does not matter whether they are completing their homework, penning legal briefs or even coming up with their marketing strategies, Airtel users now have the smartest assistant in the whole world and that too at no extra cost. There will be new memes, better productivity, and, possibly, some higher expectations of what a mere mobile subscription may provide in the coming year.