AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise • Hacker News Board

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#51

Post by hibikir » Sun, May 17, 2026, 1:56 PM UTC

fg137 wrote: post #16

gizmodo59 wrote: post #10

Inference is profitable. Companies lose money because: 1. Training is expensive. Not just compute but getting the data, researchers salaries etc 2. You have to keep producing new models to ensure people use your inference and there seems to be no end to this. So they have to pour more billions to keep the cycle going on 3. People salary and other admin cost are not that high compared to 1 and 2.

So? How does it change the equation? Nobody is going to charge "inference price" for model usage.

Given that it is no a monopoly, and changing providers is very easy, it's not going to be all that easy for anyone to charge a lot more than inference price. It's not someone in cloud A, facing huge costs to migrate to cloud provider B.

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#52

Post by d1l » Sun, May 17, 2026, 1:56 PM UTC

Sharlin wrote: post #18

I think I'm going to puke if I see one more "It's not X. It's Y." phrase or the word "load-bearing" used metaphorically.

[dead]

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#53

Post by plombe » Sun, May 17, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

rvcdbn wrote: post #26

Article is mistaken these subs are not available to businesses. Companies are paying much closer to API prices. The strategy is to get you accustomed to infinite tokens on your personal sub and bet that behavior transfers to work.

Looks more like AI slop with paragraphs like these; > The pattern is identical across the board. Price for adoption, not for economics. Lock organizations in. Make AI a load-bearing part of every team's daily workflow. Worry about the bill later.

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#54

Post by the_gipsy » Sun, May 17, 2026, 1:59 PM UTC

Sharlin wrote: post #18

I think I'm going to puke if I see one more "It's not X. It's Y." phrase or the word "load-bearing" used metaphorically.

It's not metaphorical. It's load-bearing.

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#55

Post by smoghat » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:02 PM UTC

How do the owners of that site correlate this with their business model, which is to use AI to write articles like this one, so as to get clients in the news?

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#56

Post by photon_collider » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:03 PM UTC

rvcdbn wrote: post #26

Article is mistaken these subs are not available to businesses. Companies are paying much closer to API prices. The strategy is to get you accustomed to infinite tokens on your personal sub and bet that behavior transfers to work.

Yeah, I was confused about why it was talking about subscriptions for enterprise. The company I work at is billed on API usage.

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#57

Post by StevenWaterman » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:06 PM UTC

utopiah wrote: post #21

returnInfinity wrote: post #3

Brad Gerstner confirmed that tokens aren't being sold at a loss. Whatever the formula, API + Subscription split, the companies are making a profit on net token sale. They maybe running at loss after all the salaries and stock comp, but tokens are in profit now.

It's like witnessing a rocket using the most powerful engine on Earth then once it escaped orbit turn off the engine and said "It is flying without power!". Yes, sure, right now it is ... but that's NOT how it got here. There are trillions invested to recoup and at most billions in sales. It doesn't add up to tokens making a profit any time soon.

The problem is, people see "they're not profitable once you account for training" and equate that to "AI will go away soon"

But if all the AI companies stopped training new models, they would all instantly become profitable (and stick around)

The thing that makes them unprofitable, is having to compete (which means training models). If / when enough companies exit the market, the cost to compete goes down and you end up in an equilibrium

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#58

Post by knollimar » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:08 PM UTC

Sharlin wrote: post #18

I think I'm going to puke if I see one more "It's not X. It's Y." phrase or the word "load-bearing" used metaphorically.

load bearing has snuck into my vocabulary, but I work with construction workers so it's slightly more intuitive I guess? :/

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#59

Post by cpeterso » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:08 PM UTC

Sharlin wrote: post #18

I think I'm going to puke if I see one more "It's not X. It's Y." phrase or the word "load-bearing" used metaphorically.

Or describing something as “the unlock”.

Re: AI subscriptions are a ticking time bomb for enterprise

#60

Post by 1123581321 » Sun, May 17, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC

rvcdbn wrote: post #26

Article is mistaken these subs are not available to businesses. Companies are paying much closer to API prices. The strategy is to get you accustomed to infinite tokens on your personal sub and bet that behavior transfers to work.

They are available. Seats for team or enterprise plans cost more than the retail prices, but they are fixed prices with resetting usage limits. You can assign seats to members that are the equivalent of $20/$100/$200/mo plans.

You can also do everything metered. There are multiple ways to buy.