Chatbots might hallucinate and sprinkle too much flattery on their users ¡ª ¡°That¡¯s a fascinating question!¡± one recently told me ¡ª but at least the subscription model that underpins them is healthy for our wellbeing. Many Americans pay about $20 a month to use the premium versions of OpenAI¡¯s ChatGPT, Google¡¯s Gemini Pro or Anthropic¡¯s Claude, and the result is that the products are designed to provide maximum utility.
Don¡¯t expect this status quo to last. Subscription revenue has a limit and Anthropic¡¯s $200-a-month ¡°Max¡± tier suggests even the most popular models are under pressure to find new revenue streams.
Unfortunately, the most obvious one is advertising ¡ª the web¡¯s most successful business model. AI builders are already exploring ways to plug more ads into their products, and while that¡¯s good for their bottom lines, it also means we¡¯re about to see a new chapter in the attention economy that fueled the internet.
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