OpenAI And Google Roll Out Freebies To Capture Indian AI Market

India has become the latest battleground for global AI giants, with OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity rolling out free services to capture users and secure valuable training data. With over 730 million smartphones and one of the lowest mobile data costs globally, India offers unmatched scale and diversity for AI model development.  

Key highlights from the announcement include  

• Google partnered with Reliance Jio to offer its $400 Gemini AI Pro subscription free for 18 months to 500 million Jio customers.  
• OpenAI and Perplexity are also offering free plans to lure Indian users into their ecosystems.  
• India’s average monthly data consumption stands at 21 GB per user, making it a rich source of multilingual and cultural datasets.  
• The freebies strategy is seen as a way to build user loyalty while simultaneously gathering diverse training inputs.  
• Analysts note that India’s linguistic diversity provides AI firms with unique datasets to improve global model accuracy.  
• The competition underscores India’s growing importance as a digital economy and a testing ground for AI adoption.  

Industry experts highlight that while freebies attract users, they also raise questions about data privacy, consent, and regulatory oversight. The Indian government is already considering frameworks requiring AI firms to compensate creators for using their content in training datasets, signaling tighter rules ahead.  

This aggressive push by AI companies reflects the global race to dominate artificial intelligence markets. By targeting India’s massive user base, firms like Google and OpenAI aim to strengthen their models, expand reach, and secure long-term dominance in the AI ecosystem.  

Sources: Reuters, Channel News Asia, Devdiscourse