内容来源：https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/24/india-ai-boom-pushes-firms-to-trade-near-term-revenue-for-users/

内容总结：

全球科技巨头在印度市场的人工智能推广策略正迎来关键转折。随着多家企业逐步取消免费促销活动，如何将这一全球第四大经济体转化为付费用户“富矿”，成为行业面临的核心考验。

市场情报机构Sensor Tower数据显示，印度在2025年已成为全球生成式AI应用下载量最大市场，安装量同比增长207%，领先优势持续扩大。为开拓这一价格敏感型市场，OpenAI、谷歌、Perplexity等公司曾推出长期免费高级服务以加速用户增长。去年新德里举行的重要AI峰会更是吸引了山姆·阿尔特曼、达里奥·阿莫代等行业领袖出席，凸显印度在全球AI竞赛中日益提升的地位。

然而，早期推广热潮正在退去。Perplexity已于今年1月终止与印度电信商Airtel的Pro套餐捆绑优惠，OpenAI此前在印度提供的免费ChatGPT Go服务也已停止。这标志着行业将进入用户付费意愿的真实检验阶段。

尽管下载量增长迅猛，印度市场收入贡献仍显滞后。Sensor Tower数据显示，印度约占全球生成式AI应用下载量的20%，但其应用内购收入仅占全球总额的1%，凸显出在这一高速增长市场中实现盈利的挑战。2025年9-10月，印度生成式AI应用下载量同比增幅分别达320%和260%，但随后两月应用内购收入却环比下降22%和18%。ChatGPT在推出低价免费服务后，同期收入降幅更达33%和32%。

市场分析师指出，印度拥有超过10亿互联网用户和约7亿智能手机用户，这使其成为全球AI服务潜力最大的市场之一。目前ChatGPT仍以1.8亿月活跃用户保持领先地位，谷歌Gemini（1.18亿）、Perplexity（1900万）和Meta AI（1200万）紧随其后。但美国用户每周使用AI应用的时间比印度用户多21%，会话次数也多17%，表明印度市场用户深度 engagement 仍有提升空间。

行业观察人士认为，随着用户与AI平台融合度加深，应用收入将逐步改善，但印度年轻群体对价格高度敏感的特性将持续存在。未来，低价套餐、电信捆绑服务和微交易模式将成为提升用户长期留存的关键。如何将迅猛的用户增长转化为持续收入，已成为摆在所有入局企业面前的现实课题。

中文翻译：

科技巨头在印度推广人工智能应用的努力可能即将迎来一个转折点。随着企业结束免费促销活动，它们希望将这个世界第四大经济体转化为付费用户的红利市场。

市场研究机构Sensor Tower的数据显示，印度在2025年成为全球生成式AI应用下载量最大的市场，安装量同比增长207%，进一步扩大了与美国的领先优势。OpenAI、谷歌和Perplexity等公司此前在这个价格敏感市场推出了长期免费高级服务以加速用户增长。领先的AI企业也支持印度推动成为全球人工智能中心的计划。上周在新德里举行的一场重要AI峰会吸引了包括OpenAI的山姆·阿尔特曼、Anthropic的达里奥·阿莫代以及Alphabet首席执行官桑达尔·皮查伊在内的多位行业领袖出席，这显示出该国在全球AI竞赛中日益增长的影响力。

如今，部分早期推广活动正在逐步收尾。Perplexity已于1月结束了与印度电信运营商Airtel的捆绑Pro套餐合作，而OpenAI在印度提供的免费ChatGPT Go服务也已停止。这可能为更清晰地测试新获取用户中有多少会转化为付费用户奠定基础。

尽管下载量增长强劲，但Sensor Tower与TechCrunch共享的数据显示，印度在AI应用收入中的占比仍然偏低——其贡献了全球约20%的生成式AI应用下载量，但应用内购收入仅占约1%，这凸显出这个行业增长最快市场面临的盈利挑战。

数据显示，2025年印度生成式AI应用采用率急剧加速，下载量在9月和10月达到峰值，同比分别增长约320%和260%。然而使用量的激增并未完全转化为收入增长。2025年11月和12月，印度AI应用内购收入环比分别下降22%和18%。ChatGPT的收入下滑更为明显——在11月推出月费低于5美元的ChatGPT Go免费服务后，其同期收入环比下降33%和32%，这反映出激进促销活动带来的短期影响。

ChatGPT在印度生成式AI应用内购收入中仍占据超60%份额，这意味着其定价策略的调整可能显著影响整体市场表现。

Sensor Tower认为，去年印度生成式AI应用采用率的激增，既源于促销推动，也得益于新产品发布（包括DeepSeek、Grok和Meta AI等平台上线）以及ChatGPT、Gemini、Claude和Perplexity等主流聊天机器人的功能升级。AI生成内容引发的病毒式传播也助推了应用普及——在2025年印度下载量前20的生成式AI应用中，内容创作和编辑工具占据了7席。

用户激增同样显著。Sensor Tower表示，2025年印度约占领先AI助手应用全球用户群的19%，超过美国的10%。ChatGPT在月活跃用户数上继续主导印度市场，不过谷歌的Gemini和Perplexity等竞争对手在促销活动后也实现快速增长。早前Sensor Tower数据显示，ChatGPT是2025年印度及全球下载量最高的生成式AI应用。本月初，OpenAI首席执行官透露该聊天机器人在印度的周活跃用户数已突破1亿。

Sensor Tower洞察分析师斯内哈·潘迪指出，印度市场的推广活动反映了AI公司在高价值敏感市场中降低定价摩擦的广泛战略，它们押注早期用户采用和参与度将在免费期结束后转化为更强的长期留存率。

印度的吸引力在于其庞大的数字基础。该国拥有超10亿互联网用户和约7亿智能手机用户，使其成为全球AI服务最大的潜在市场之一，也是用户增长的关键战场。

尽管如此，印度用户参与度仍落后于更成熟市场。Sensor Tower数据显示，2025年美国主流AI聊天机器人应用用户每周使用时长比印度用户多约21%，平均会话次数高出17%。

潘迪向TechCrunch表示：“随着用户更深度融入这些平台，AI应用内收入可能会出现显著但渐进的改善，这使得持续参与度至关重要。”她补充说，鉴于印度用户群体年轻且注重性价比，定价压力可能持续高企，因此低价套餐、电信捆绑套餐和小额交易模式对长期留存至关重要。

Sensor Tower数据显示，进入2026年，ChatGPT在印度市场保持明显领先地位，1月份月活跃用户达1.8亿；其次是谷歌Gemini（1.18亿）、Perplexity（1900万）和Meta AI（1200万）。这些数据既凸显了印度AI市场的巨大机遇，也表明企业将快速用户增长转化为持续收入正面临日益严峻的挑战。

谷歌、OpenAI和Perplexity未回应置评请求。

英文来源：

Tech giants’ efforts to ramp up AI adoption in India may be about to hit a turning point, as companies end free promotions with hopes to convert the world’s fourth-largest economy into a windfall of paid subscribers.
India became the world’s largest market for generative AI app downloads in 2025, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, widening its lead over the U.S. as installs jumped 207% year-over-year.
Companies including OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity rolled out extended free premium offers to accelerate user growth in the price sensitive market. Leading AI firms have also backed India in its push to become a global artificial intelligence hub. A major AI summit in New Delhi last week was attended by leaders including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai — a sign of the country’s growing weight in the global AI race.
Now, some of those early promotional pushes are winding down. Perplexity ended its bundled Pro offer with Indian telco Airtel in January, while OpenAI’s free ChatGPT Go access in India is no longer available, potentially setting the stage for a clearer test of how many newly acquired users convert to paying subscribers.
Despite strong download growth, India still generates a disproportionately small share of AI app revenue, accounting for about 1% of in-app purchases even as it drives roughly 20% of global GenAI app downloads, according to the Sensor Tower data shared with TechCrunch, highlighting the monetization challenge in one of the industry’s fastest-growing markets.
GenAI app adoption in India accelerated sharply through 2025, with downloads peaking in September and October at year-over-year growth rates of about 320% and 260%, respectively, according to the data. Yet the surge in usage did not fully translate into revenue gains. In November and December 2025, AI app in-app purchase revenue in India fell 22% and 18% month over month, respectively. ChatGPT’s revenue dropped even more sharply — down 33% and 32% over the same period following the November launch of free sub-$5 ChatGPT Go access — reflecting the near-term impact of aggressive promotional pushes.
ChatGPT still commands more than 60% of GenAI in-app revenue in India, meaning shifts in its pricing strategy can significantly influence overall market performance.
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Alongside promotional pushes, Sensor Tower attributed the surge in GenAI app adoption in India last year to a mix of new product launches, including the debut of platforms such as DeepSeek, Grok, and Meta AI, as well as upgrades to major chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. Viral interest in AI-generated content also helped fuel adoption, with content creation and editing tools accounting for seven of the 20 most downloaded GenAI apps in India in 2025.
The user surge has been equally pronounced. India accounted for about 19% of the global user base of leading AI assistant apps in 2025, ahead of the U.S. at 10%, Sensor Tower said. ChatGPT continues to dominate the Indian market by monthly active users, though rivals including Google’s Gemini and Perplexity have also seen rapid growth following promotional offers. ChatGPT was the most downloaded GenAI app in India and globally in 2025, according to earlier Sensor Tower data. Earlier this month, OpenAI’s CEO said that the chatbot now has more than 100 million weekly active users in India.
The promotional push in India reflects a broader strategy by AI firms to reduce pricing friction in a highly value-conscious market, betting that early user adoption and engagement will translate into stronger long-term retention once free access periods expire, said Sneha Pandey, insights analyst at Sensor Tower.
India’s appeal lies in its massive digital base. The country has more than a billion internet users and around 700 million smartphone owners, making it one of the largest potential markets for AI services globally and a critical battleground for user growth.
Nonetheless, user engagement in India still trails more mature markets. In 2025, users of leading AI chatbot apps in the U.S. spent about 21% more time per week on the apps than their counterparts in India and logged 17% more sessions on average, per Sensor Tower.
“AI in-app revenues will likely see meaningful but gradual improvement as users become more deeply integrated into these platforms, making sustained engagement paramount,” Pandey told TechCrunch.
She added that pricing pressure in India is likely to remain elevated given the country’s young and value-conscious user base, making lower-cost tiers, telecom bundles, and micro-transaction models important for long-term retention.
ChatGPT remained the clear market leader in India entering 2026, with 180 million monthly active users in January, per Sensor Tower, followed by Google’s Gemini with 118 million, Perplexity with 19 million, and Meta AI with 12 million. The figures underline both the scale of India’s AI opportunity and the growing challenge for firms to convert rapid user adoption into sustained revenue.
Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity did not respond to requests for comments.