As global AI competition shifts from technical parameters to user scale, India - a super market with over 1 billion internet users but lacking homegrown large models - has become a "battlefield" for tech giants. By the end of October 2025, Google and OpenAI launched "free moves" almost simultaneously, sparking an unprecedented AI user competition: Google partnered with Reliance Industries to offer 18 months of AI Pro service to Jio users; OpenAI announced free one-year ChatGPT Go subscriptions for Indian users. An AI arms race based on "subsidizing data and trading users for the future" has already erupted across the South Asian subcontinent.

Google: Bind with 5G Plans, Gift a 2800 RMB AI Family Pack

Google's offensive was the most intense. Through deep collaboration with Reliance Industries, the company's largest telecom operator in India, Google embedded AI services directly into Jio 5G unlimited plans - hundreds of millions of users, especially young people aged 18 to 25, will get 18 months of Google AI Pro membership for free, totaling 35,100 Indian rupees (about 2811 Chinese yuan).

The benefits include:

Access to the advanced Gemini 2.5 Pro model;

Use rights for the Nano Banana image generation and Veo 3.1 video generation models;

2TB Google cloud storage space.

This move not only deeply integrates AI into communication consumption scenarios, but also binds users through a "communication + AI + cloud" trinity, building a long-term ecological moat.

OpenAI: Urgently Launches ChatGPT Go, Free to Capture Emerging Markets

Facing Google's lightning strike, OpenAI quickly retaliated. Starting November 4th, Indian users can freely claim a one-year ChatGPT Go subscription - a lightweight product specially designed by OpenAI for emerging markets, with a monthly fee of $5, but usage quota ten times that of the free version, supporting longer conversations, faster responses, and basic multimodal features.

Although its functions are slightly inferior to the Pro version, it is already a "downward strike" far exceeding expectations for price-sensitive Indian users. OpenAI's intention is clear: establish user habits with the lowest threshold, paving the way for future monetization.

Escalation of the Battle: Perplexity and Other Players Have Already Entered

This showdown is not a two-horse race. Three months ago, Perplexity, an AI search company backed by NVIDIA, had already partnered with Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecom provider, to offer 12 months of free Perplexity Pro service to its 360 million users. Now, Indian users can enjoy free premium features from three AI platforms at the same time, making them the happiest AI consumers in the world.

Burning Money: Data, Models and Geopolitical Strategy

Giants are willing to make huge subsidies, aiming far beyond user growth:

Data collection: India's multilingual, multicultural, and high mobile internet penetration environment is an ideal testing ground for training global AI models;

Ecosystem positioning: Whoever occupies users' minds first will control the future AI application distribution channels;

Geopolitical layout: In the context of Sino-US technological rivalry, India has become a strategic pivot for American tech companies to expand their "non-China" markets.

However, the long-term free model has raised questions about profitability. Analysts point out that this phase is a "strategic loss," and once user habits are formed and data barriers are established, monetization will come naturally.

Conclusion: India, the Last Piece of the Global AI Puzzle

In this non-smoke war, Indian users are the short-term winners, while tech giants are playing a bigger game. As Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity fiercely clash on both sides of the Ganges, this "money-burning battle" will not only reshape India's digital ecosystem, but may also determine the future direction of the global AI landscape - because, winning India means winning the next billion-level AI market.