``` "Your AI bill will be scary!" Tech commentator: American tech giants spend heavily on ads, and in the end, users foot the bill. ```

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Subsidies will eventually end, and behind those dazzling new AI features lies a bill you’ll have to pay sooner or later.

Tech commentator Ernie Smith recently warned that American AI giants like Anthropic and OpenAI are using massive subsidies to foster user dependency, but this model is unsustainable—when subsidies fade, it’s everyday users and businesses who foot the bill. He pointedly remarked:

"All the money spent on Super Bowl ads and new products will ultimately be accounted for."

Smith shared his own experience: when trying Anthropic’s newly launched Claude Design product, he used up his daily quota with just two commands, at 1pm on a Friday. Meanwhile, GitHub has announced it will switch its Copilot billing method to usage-based pricing, signaling a quiet shift in industry direction. He cited AI skeptic Ed Zitron, saying most mainstream media reporters covering AI services "almost never know how much each task actually costs users".

Subsidy is a trap: Users are being “fattened up” for future harvesting

Smith’s central argument is straightforward:

"These mainstream AI products are subsidized, and users are already addicted to the subsidies. This isn’t sustainable, but their goal is to get you hooked enough to hopefully hold you when the subsidies end."

He quoted Ed Zitron, describing the essence of AI services as fundamentally different from traditional software:

"Generative AI services are, to a large extent, experimental products that operate unlike any modern software or hardware. You can’t simply walk up to ChatGPT or Claude and have it get to work."

Smith believes that the Super Bowl ads and constant stream of new products imply that the enormous costs will eventually be repaid. "All the money spent on Super Bowl ads and new products will, in the end, come to collect." He writes:

"And you’ll be stuck, paying not just a subscription fee, but also ever-increasing usage costs."

Tech giants’ calculations: Using creative tools to lock in businesses, the bills will only get larger

Smith asserts that the real target of mainstream players like Anthropic is not ordinary consumers, but enterprise customers willing to pay a premium for efficiency—which means much higher bills.

Anthropic recently announced integration with several mainstream creative tools, including Affinity, Adobe Creative Cloud, and the controversial 3D software Blender. Smith writes:

"I think Anthropic has found a sufficiently useful scenario that can consume huge amounts of tokens, enough for companies to willingly pay big money. If you thought Creative Cloud was expensive, think again."

He predicts that many companies will be tempted by these "efficiency tools," "only to eventually discover they’ve spent vast sums for small boosts in efficiency." In his view, these companies focus on efficiency rather than cost—which is precisely the problem.

The way out: Recognize the bill, and choose the smaller one

Smith’s advice is not to abandon AI, but to urge users and enterprises to maintain 'financial sobriety'.

He believes open-source or open-weight models will follow the trajectory of open-source software: most people will overlook them because they have no ads, no sales teams, and won’t launch expensive, flashy products like Sora. But eventually, some will realize "when cheaper options exist—including models that can run on a laptop—burning money on top-tier large models isn’t a good investment."

Smith concludes with a single sentence:

"The bill will eventually come due. And you’ll want yours to be a smaller one. Trust me."

Risk warnings and disclaimerThe market has risks, investments need caution. This article does not constitute individual investment advice, nor does it take into account the unique investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular user. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article fit their specific situation. If you invest based on this article, you bear responsibility for the outcome. ```