Why is Google India giving 1 year of Google AI Pro free to students?
July 16, 2025
🧵 Detailed thread
(1)
It's not "giving back to the community."
It's data mining + early onboarding at scale.
They don’t want Indian students learning AI on OpenAI, Meta, or local LLMs.
(2)
India = the largest untapped AI workforce in the world. Skilled but cheap.
If Google can train 1 million devs on their tools, they win long-term control over a global AI labor force.
(3)
Why now?
Because Microsoft already owns the college space: GitHub Copilot, Azure credits, Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn Learning.
Google is late. This is catch-up mode.
(4)
Google AI Pro also includes tight integration with Vertex AI, Gemini, and Google Cloud.
Once you're in the stack, migration is painful.
This is how they create lock-in before you're even employed.
(5)
Another angle: Campus influence.
The student who learns AI on Google will teach 10 others the same tools.
Peer onboarding = free marketing + network effects.
(6)
In short:
- Train them early
- Trap them softly
- Monetize them later
This is B2D SaaS (Business to Developers) strategy at scale.