Perplexity.ai has refuted social media claims suggesting that Airtel subscribers in India are receiving a downgraded version of its premium Perplexity Pro plan under the company’s free offer. The clarification follows a viral Reddit post alleging that the bundled service was slower, lacked citations, omitted visual elements such as charts, and delivered less insightful responses compared to both the paid Pro and free versions of the AI tool.
The post, which gained significant traction online, referred to the Airtel-linked service as a “Pro-Lite” version, sparking debate and concerns over the nature of the partnership.
In a statement to Financial Express, Jesse Dwyer from Perplexity.ai called the allegations “absolutely false,” emphasising that Airtel customers receive the exact same version of Perplexity Pro as paying subscribers. “Having worked personally with the Airtel team throughout this partnership, and also being familiar with the specific terms of this deal, I can assure you that Airtel customers get the same version of Perplexity Pro as our paying subscribers. India is very dear to us as a company and we would hope to correct this misunderstanding for Indian readers,” he said.
Dwyer also noted that misinformation about Perplexity frequently circulates online, sometimes used by individuals to increase follower counts on platforms such as Reddit and X.
Perplexity confirmed that Airtel users have full access to premium features, including advanced AI models, file uploads, image generation, and other tools. The subscription, valued at ₹17,000 annually, is offered at no additional cost to customers on Airtel’s 5G plan, serving as a key highlight of the collaboration.
Despite the online speculation, Perplexity reiterated that there is no compromise in service quality or feature availability for Airtel customers, and the Pro experience remains consistent across all subscribers.
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