Singapore ā€“ Telecommunications company Singtel spotlights the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) in its latest Chinese New Year (CNY) film.

The ā€˜Once Upon a CNYā€™ film, which injects humour while highlighting the importance of technology, shows how AI saves a familyā€™s CNY celebration.

Singtel has recently been integrating AI into its businesses, including its offering of free Perplexity Pro subscriptions to customers. In line with this, the new short film is a reference to Perplexity, highlighting its abilities.

Following the story of wife and mother Mei who is struggling to prepare for CNY, the film shows how an AI assistant immediately makes her tasks lighter.

An AI assistant suddenly responds to her troubles after expressing how she cannot be ā€œeverything everywhere all at once,ā€ a reference to the Hollywood film that presents a woman learning from the different versions of her life.

Like in ā€˜Everything Everywhere All at Once,ā€™ Mei is also shown an alternate reality where all her worries are eliminated through technology. Inspired, Mei uses Singtelā€™s WiFi 7 to easily handle smart appliances, including a fridge and a vacuum.

Singtel produced ā€˜Once Upon a CNYā€™ in collaboration with Akanga Films, set to run on Singtel TV and social media channels from January 17 to February 12.

Yuen Kuan Moon, Singtel group chief executive officer, said, ā€œWe have always strived to stay abreast of technology to serve our customers better and this year, AI-driven innovation will definitely be front and centre as we bring its transformative powers to our retail and enterprise customers. By showing how AI can even transform everyday life at home, we are underlining our commitment to making AI accessible to all by enriching consumers lives and empowering enterprises to innovate, reinvent themselves and grow.ā€

Lian Pek, Singtelā€™s vice president of group strategic communications and brand, said, ā€œThe burnt-out mom is both universal and relatable, which is why we chose her to demonstrate the very real benefits of deploying best-in-class connectivity and technology at home. This is especially pertinent during festive occasions like Chinese New Year where everyone can arm themselves with the latest technology to make their lives easier. As a company that derives its purpose from empowering customers, this film is about how technology can do wonders in helping us keep traditions alive!ā€

Singapore ā€“ Telecommunications company Singtel is offering its broadband, television, and mobile customers a free one-year subscription to Perplexity Pro. All customers are set to receive the activation code for the subscription via their My Singtel App.

The offering comes after Singtel observed an increase in broadband and mobile traffic to AI domains recently, showcasing a higher demand for AI tools.

The artificial intelligence (AI) search service, ā€˜Perplexity Pro,ā€™ aims to simplify how customers find information while responding to the demand for AI-powered tools.

Perplexity Pro provides concise and conversational answers to queries by consolidating information from multiple sources in real time, supplemented with in-line citations. It also summarises the response while allowing advanced file analysis and AI-image generation.

Additionally, users of Perplexity Pro can choose from AI models such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Grok to ensure their experience is tailored to their needs.

Perplexity Pro supports various languages, including English, Simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.

Ng Tian Chong, chief executive officer (CEO) of Singtel Singapore, said, ā€œConsumers are increasingly using AI search platforms to help them with their everyday tasks, from looking up recipes and planning a travel itinerary to more academic uses like school research and business competitive analysis. We are offering this solution, created by leaders in AI, so our customers can get personalised assistance. This is in line with our commitment to bringing cutting-edge technologies into the hands of our customers, so more people can take advantage of what AI has to offer.ā€

Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, said, ā€œTelecoms make it possible for people to use Perplexity on their devices. As we expand to new markets, partnerships with leading telecommunications providers play a key role in our growth strategy. We appreciate Singtel’s commitment to innovation and utility and welcome the opportunity to make Perplexity Pro available to their subscribers for free for a year.ā€