Paying for AI: Why you'll pay even if you don't use it
How Microsoft tricked me into paying 45% more for AI features I never wanted or used.
You will pay for AI eventually, even if you hate AI or never use it. Thankfully I chanced upon a tip and saved myself SG$56 annually. This time.
For UnfilteredFriday today, I want to talk about the cost of AI - and how you are going to pay for it.
Massive cost
We know AI costs tens of billions of dollars. To train new models, we need many thousands of GPUs running at full tilt for weeks or months.
It's estimated that to train AI models, we need:
- 30,000 GPUs (AI models today)
- 100,000 GPUs (Soon-to-release AI models)
- 300,000 GPUs ("Next" next AI models).
Then there's the inference to use the AI models. So, loads of investment in hardware*, energy, and talent is needed to develop AI.
Someone's got to pay for these, and if the tech giants have their way, it won't be them.
*FYI, a unit of Nvidia GPU costs around US$30,000
Transferring the cost to users
So, in November, I got an email that I briefly read. From Microsoft, it told me that my Microsoft 365 subscription will increase by almost 45%.
Ouch, but ok. I filed the email.
A few weeks ago, I noticed an annoying copilot icon appearing in my Word docs. I've ignored it since I already pay for ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI tools.
Then last week, I saw a post by Dr. Jeffrey Funk called out the price increase. It turns out that Microsoft is raising its prices due to the incorporation of AI features. But without telling users.
Crucially, Jeffrey shared that there's a way to switch back to my old plan: it isn't shared by Microsoft, but an attempt to cancel will cause the option for an AI-free offering (my old plan!) to appear.
I did it and it worked.
Savings: SG$4.69 every month.
Google does it too
This week, Google did something similar, though in a more transparent fashion.
As reported by TechCrunch, Google announced the introduction of AI features in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Meet at no charge.
The previous $20 fee to use AI is scrapped, though Workspace plans will now increase by US$2 per user. And no, there doesn't seem to be an opt-out if you prefer to go without AI.
So yes, expect the cost of AI to eventually infiltrate every service that you use; I just hope you like paying. Remember, you heard it here first.
Have a great weekend ahead!
