How Perplexity AI Overtook ChatGPT in India

Strategic Partnerships Fuel Explosive Growth

Perplexity AI is creating a significant impact in India, notably surging past ChatGPT on the App Store. This impressive feat was driven by a strategic free Perplexity Pro offer, valued at ₹17,000, made available through a partnership with telecom giant Airtel. By collaborating with popular comedian Tanmay Bhat and gaining access to Airtel’s massive subscriber base of 38.5 crore users, the AI search engine witnessed a staggering 640% year-over-year growth in its monthly active users during Q2. This growth significantly outpaced ChatGPT’s 350% increase in the same period. Rahul Mathur, an investor at DeVC, commented on the situation, stating, “India is the second largest market for ChatGPT and the fastest growing, as per Sam Altman… who might now seriously explore Perplexity Pro.”

Beyond Chatbots A Vision for Agentic AI

According to CEO Aravind Srinivas, the company’s goal isn’t to directly compete with ChatGPT in the chatbot arena. Instead, Perplexity is focusing on pioneering agentic workflows with its AI-powered browser, Comet. The platform functions as an aggregator, leveraging powerful engines like GPT-4, Claude, Grok, and Gemini, and intelligently switches between them based on the user's query to deliver optimal results. Srinivas has firmly rejected any speculation about acquisitions, declaring, “We plan to remain independent… the world needs little tech to win.” Despite burning through $65 million last year on models from Anthropic and OpenAI, the startup's vision has attracted significant investment, recently raising $100 million and achieving a valuation of $18 billion.

An India Centric Strategy

India is a cornerstone of Perplexity's global strategy. The company's commitment to the region is evident through a series of high-profile initiatives, including a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a partnership with Paytm to integrate AI-powered search. Furthermore, Perplexity is fostering the next generation of tech talent by offering free Pro access to students at IIT Madras and has pledged ₹1 million to support the development of India’s own foundational AI models. “I truly believe AI is the era where India has an intrinsic advantage globally,” Srinivas noted, positioning Perplexity at the forefront of the nation's burgeoning AI landscape.

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