SoftBank Partners with Perplexity AI: Free Perplexity Pro for One Year Starting June 19, 2024

In Short

• AI Engine: Perplexity Pro is a conversational AI answer engine designed for web browsers and apps, delivering precise and current information.
• Exclusive Offer: SoftBank, Y!mobile, and LINEMO customers receive one year of Perplexity Pro for free, starting June 19, 2024.
• Unique Features: Perplexity Pro offers advanced features like choosing large language models, image generation, unlimited file uploads, and query history tracking.

A new milestone in the AI industry has been unveiled as SoftBank Corp., an international telecommunications company, agreed to form a strategic partnership with the premier artificial intelligence venture capital firm, Perplexity. In this partnership, Perplexity’s AI answer engine, ‘Perplexity Pro,’ will be available for free for one year to SoftBank customers using ‘SoftBank,’ ‘Y!mobile,’ and ‘LINEMO’ mobile services starting June 19, 2024.

This shift highlights Perplexity’s international strategy and its focus on monetizing its base through its paid offering. Unlike other partnerships, SoftBank is among several mobile carriers that approached Perplexity, with German Telekom announcing cooperation in April 2024. It remains uncertain whether any of the carriers are investing in Perplexity, although the company has established AI as one of its key strategic thrusts.

AI Engine

It is a conversational AI answer engine that is designed to work in web browsers and apps, and can get the user pertinent and precise answers based on the most current data available on the Internet. It guarantees reliable responses to its customers and shows the information source when responding to their questions. The features unique to Perplexity Pro include the choice of the used large language models, the image generation, the possibility of uploading any number of files, and the history of the queries.

Specifically, the three brands – SoftBank Mobile, SoftBank Broad, and SoftBank Internet Communications – offer Perplexity Pro to their clients for free for a year within the framework of a trial option. Of all the mobile operators in Japan, SoftBank was the unique beneficiary of this offer. The prices for the application when what is known as the Android OS version costs 2,950 yen monthly or 29,500 yen yearly, and the iOS and web versions have slightly different prices. However, customers of the three brands of Softbank can use Perplexity Pro for free one year, irrespective of the platform.

ChatGPT vs. Perplexity AI: Which is Better and Why?

The application process for the one-year free trial will commence at 9:00 AM on June 19th. 

Hence, the partnership of Perplexity and SoftBank Corp has marked a significant milestone in AI development. This partnership has offered a remarkable opportunity to showcase its features and unique capabilities to a broader audience. This collaboration has a lot of potential to make a massive development of Perplexity in the global AI market.

What is Perplexity Pages? How To Use It To Generate AI-powered summaries of web pages?