On Engineers Day 2025, Arvind Srinivasan, CEO and co-founder of Perplexity AI, celebrated the spirit of innovation and education in India by announcing the company’s partnership with AICTE to provide four million free Perplexity Pro licenses to its students nationwide. Srinivasan highlighted India’s legacy of engineering excellence and positioned Perplexity as a powerful tool to empower the next generation of tech leaders with cutting-edge AI-driven research and learning capabilities.
AICTE: India’s Premier Technical Education Regulator
The All India Council for Technical Education is a statutory national body established in 1945, entrusted with the development, coordination, and quality assurance of technical education in India. Operating under the Ministry of Education, it sets norms and standards for engineering, management, pharmacy, architecture, and applied arts institutions, accredits programs, allocates funding, and ensures parity of certifications nationwide. Its mission is to foster accessible, globally benchmarked technical education for India’s workforce, shaping skill development essential for economic growth.
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AICTE and OpenAI’s Collaboration to Democratize AI Learning
Complementing its role, OpenAI has partnered with the council to distribute 150,000 free ChatGPT Go licenses for six months to students and faculty across AICTE-affiliated institutions, focusing heavily on Tier 2 and 3 cities. This initiative aims to boost AI literacy, enhance employability, and embed AI tools in teaching and research. Supported by a $500,000 research grant to IIT Madras, OpenAI’s India-first Learning Accelerator brings advanced AI capabilities in natural language processing directly to learners and educators, positioning India as a strategic AI education hub.
Perplexity AI’s Expanding Footprint and Innovation in India
Arvind Srinivasan’s AI startup has seen rapid growth in India, outpacing ChatGPT in App Store downloads after launching extensive free offerings of Pro licenses to IIT Madras students and partnering with telecom giant Bharti Airtel to offer one-year free access to millions of users. The platform integrates multiple AI models like GPT-4.1 and Claude, delivering enhanced search and reasoning capabilities. Recent product launches, such as Perplexity-Labs, enable professionals to create in-depth reports, interactive dashboards, and applications through natural prompts, democratizing AI creativity. It balances open innovation with scalability, aiming to make AI accessible and transparent amid fierce competition.
Recent Funding
Arvind Srinivasan’s startup has secured $200 million in fresh capital last week, bringing its valuation to a staggering $20 billion—just two months after a previous raise at an $18 billion valuation. This new funding, disclosed on September 10, 2025, further cements Perplexity’s position as a prime challenger to Google in the rapidly evolving AI-based search ecosystem. With $1.5 billion raised in just three years, it’s i moving at breakneck speed, outpacing many of its competitors and catching the attention of leading VC firms and tech-watchers globally.
These developments indicate a robust ecosystem where AICTE’s regulatory framework, OpenAI’s global AI expertise, and Perplexity’s innovative platform synergize to empower India’s next generation of engineers and learners with advanced AI tools, fostering India’s vision as a global tech and AI leader.
