Perplexity Hits Back at Allegations of Providing Burgled AI Tool to Airtel Users in India
a user posted that when accessing the Perplexity Pro plan that was bundled for free with some Airtel plans, the experience was far less than the standard paid Pro plan (and even the free plan).
Perplexity.ai, a rapidly growing search and chatbot platform powered by AI, has found itself right in the middle of an intense online conversation following a Reddit post that claimed Airtel customers in India were receiving a less robust version of its premium AI service. In short, a user posted that when accessing the Perplexity Pro plan that was bundled for free with some Airtel plans, the experience was far less than the standard paid Pro plan (and even the free plan).
Perplexity.ai Clarifies Claims of Downgrade
Perplexity.ai responded to the rising level of public discussion when it released a statement saying that the claims were “inaccurate” and that Airtel users were indeed using the full Perplexity Pro by name. The company stated emphatically that it did not intend to downgrade features or performance for Indian users accessing the Airtel plan.
The company said even if there was a different experience compared to other subscribers, it was possible because the experience might be impacted by connectivity issues on the internet, either connected mobility device or the load on the Perplexity.ai server and not user's capabilities on the service being reduced on purpose.
Airtel Embraces AI
Airtel, one of India's largest telecom carriers, recently announced its partnership with Perplexity.ai and for a limited time, its customers will get free access to Perplexity Pro's subscription. This is part of a larger effort to integrate AI-driven tools into Airtel's suite of value-added services. This, in return, has the added benefit of providing subscribers with powerful search and summarization capabilities, and real-time information access through the AI platform.
Partnerships like this can be expected to increase as telecom carriers and operators seek out ways to differentiate themselves in a competitive telecom market with premium bundled digital services - from streaming deals to AI assistants, free to subscribers.
Why This is Important for Users
The incident is a valuable consumer lesson, namely, the issue of transparency for bundled tech services. As much as Airtel's partnership with Perplexity adds value for users, users have an expectation and a right to know what the user experience is versus the stand-alone paid versions of those products.
For Perplexity.ai, this is also a moment of brand trust. In a big and loud market like India, any kind of tone on a perceived reduction of service could have implications for brand loyalty and adoption.
Looking Ahead
For the moment, it seems that Perplexity.ai's denial has calmed some of the burning questions, but brings attention to the necessity for companies to communicate openly in a proactive manner, and uphold its user experience across all platforms and partners. The importance of transparency and user trust will be important as AI tools become more embedded into our routine of digital services.
