LLM access is relatively cheap now because the LLM vendors are discounting their price at a massive loss, subsidized by VC, in order to get you addicted and to drive as much skilled human labor as possible out of the workforce permanently.
The goal is monopolization, and if they’re successful, you’ll see monopolistic pricing in the future.
@lapcatsoftwareJeff Johnson already happening in some corners of the market. I know a person who became professionally dependent on using Perplexity. They gave them a 12 months free plan, cut short to 4 then asked to pay 20€ a month. After 8 months this plan was also eliminated and the price is now 200€ a month for less than what they used to get for 20. Obviously they're in a bad place now, and Perplexity is still likely losing money over that.
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