According to the latest information from TechCrunch, India currently leads the world in terms of downloads of generative AI applications in 2025, with an increase of 207% compared to the previous year.
To attract users, companies such as OpenAI, Google and Perplexity have implemented many free programs. However, these incentives are gradually ending. Some services such as Perplexity's Pro package or ChatGPT Go free have been stopped.
Although the number of users is increasing rapidly, revenue is very low. India accounts for about 20% of global downloads but only contributes about 1% of revenue from AI applications.
By the end of 2025, revenue from AI applications in this market will decrease. ChatGPT alone decreased by more than 30% for 2 consecutive months, after applying cheap programs.
ChatGPT still accounts for more than 60% of AI revenue in India and is the application with the largest number of users. Other platforms such as Gemini or Perplexity are also growing rapidly.
India has more than one billion internet users and about 700 million smartphones, creating great potential. However, users here spend less and the level of use is not as high as developed markets.
Analysts believe that switching from free to paid users will be a major challenge in the near future.
