Perplexity, an artificial intelligence company, recently launched a groundbreaking experiment. Partnering with India's Airtel, they offered their premium service for free to 360 million subscribers—amazingly, 5.9 million took them up on it in July.

This wasn't just a one-off spike; the numbers stayed strong. By October, monthly active users had peaked at 22 million, more than nine times their previous levels. But here's the twist: despite a steep drop in downloads after the offer ended, revenue kept climbing. In-app purchases and subscriptions rose by 60%, showing that some users were keen to pay up.

The results point to an intriguing future for AI companies looking to grow internationally. India, with over a billion internet subscribers, might be the goldmine many have been searching for. However, the question remains: can these initial users turn into loyal paying customers?

For now, it seems Perplexity has struck a winning formula in India. Only time will tell if this success can be replicated elsewhere and whether AI services truly have staying power beyond free trials.