Are free ChatGPT, Perplexity & Gemini really free? Here’s their hidden cost

India right now is getting flooded with AI freebies. From Perplexity’s partnership with Airtel, where they are giving away services with ₹17,000 to Google Gemini and Jio who are giving freebies worth ₹35,000, there is a free AI subscription, just waiting to be grabbed, for everyone.

Even OpenAI is giving away an entire year’s worth of ChatGPT Go subscriptions for free,

Now, while all of this is great for us desis who love a good bargain and love freebies even more, all of this feels too good to be true. And it is.

In the cold, hard world of business, there is no such thing as a free lunch. If the product is free, then, well, you are the product. And this time, it’s not just about selling your data to advertisers; it’s about something far bigger: The Great AI Training Mission.

The Chronological Plot Twist

This free-for-all isn't random; it's a calculated, high-stakes battle for the next billion users. The chronology goes something like this:

1. The First Volley(Mid-2025): Perplexity, the savvy research AI startup, partnered with Airtel to offer their Pro plan for free. It was a classic "shock and awe" move, instantly putting their premium product into the hands of a massive user base. Entry leli hai, ab sab ko aana padega.
2. The Panicked Response (Late-2025): OpenAI, seeing their rival gain traction in their second-largest market (India, obvio), went aggressive. They announced the one-year free subscription for their ChatGPT Go plan, aiming to lock in loyalty with their own brand of AI jugaad.
3. The Endgame (Late-2025): Not one to miss out on a good market brawl, Google went for the jugular. They teamed up with Reliance Jio to offer their highest-value Gemini AI Pro for 18 months, essentially giving a massive, high-tech gift basket to millions of users.

The Real Story: You Are the Gold Mine

The true reason for this generosity is not complicated; it’s about scale and data diversity.

AI models are basically super-intelligent parrots that need to be trained on the maximum amount of human conversation possible to get smarter. And where on Earth do you find millions of active, curious, cost-sensitive, and digitally fluent people? A-ha!

India is a goldmine for training data because:

• Linguistic Chaos (The Good Kind): We are a mixture or variety of different things. English mixed with Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and so many other languages and dialects. When a user asks a question in Hinglish,“yaar, yeh Nifty kal upar jayega kya?”,the AI learns to process this multilingual, context-rich conversation. This is the desi data that makes AI truly robust globally.
• The Gen Z Factor: The Indian Gen Z is hyper-digital, constantly experimenting, and not afraid to ask AI for everything from coding help to complex college assignments. They are creating new, invaluable use-cases that Western markets simply don't offer at this scale.

So, while you're busy generating a cool new Instagram caption with a free AI, remember you are also contributing to a massive, global AI training project. These companies are paying the subscription cost to acquire you as an active data contributor. It's a strategic investment. Once you are hooked on the premium features for a year, paying a fraction of the cost later won't feel so bad.

It’s the oldest digital playbook: Acquire, Hook, Monetise. Well, for now, let’s just enjoy the free ride!