Ask ChatGPT When The Price Goes Up; Revealing Insights Into The Creator Economy

There is no such thing as a free launch

Big tech companies have spent billions of dollars integrating AI into their products. Now they have to figure out how to make a profit – and the method many have settled on is neither new nor particularly subtle.

They give the first try for free.

On Tuesday, Google made all of its AI features — which previously cost $20 a month — available for free to Workspace users, The Verge reports. Doorknob? Workspace plans will now cost $2 more per month across all tiers.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Microsoft relaunched its Copilot (which itself is a relaunch Bing Chat) as 365 Copilot Chat, which is available for free. But users can also pay for additional AI agents based on usage or pay a monthly fee of $30 to access the full Microsoft 365 Copilot service.

You may be noticing a pattern here, which is that these features aren’t actually free. Users either pay more up front or get coins for additional services until they shell out the full cost of the subscription. (If you’re a Microsoft customer in an Asia-Pacific country, you may even be facing price increases and new compensation structures, according to Register.)

Either way, this trend will only continue as major platforms improve monetization of AI chatbot data consumption.

Pornhub pays

The Supreme Court heard a challenge to Texas’ age-verification law for adult websites on Wednesday. Social media chatter about the proceedings sheds light on some surprising aspects of the creative economy.

Texas law requires websites to verify the age of visitors if at least one-third of the content is classified as “sexual material harmful to minors.” Eighteen other states have passed similar laws.

During a hearing before the Supreme Court, the trade group representing pornography sites, the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), admitted that 70% of their content could be considered obscene for children.

That discovery prompted Justice Samuel Alito asks FSC do sites like Pornhub publish essays by greats “like old Playboy”.

Well, Pornhub may not publish the works of Gore Vidal or William F. Buckley Jr., but they do have a video explaining neural networks. Really.

Engineering PhD student turned adult content creator Zara Dar publishes non-pornographic STEM videos on YouTube and Pornhub. AND she claims her ad revenue on Pornhub per view is three times higher than on YouTube.

However, TastyFPS and Raptor Bacon, two creators who publish video games on Pornhub, have previously claimed YouTube has higher CPMs.

Opponents of online age verification laws argue that they deter adult users who are afraid to share their information, which in turn threatens the revenue of creators – apparently even for non-adult content.

Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown

The law to ban TikTok was designed, by own language“to protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by applications controlled by foreign adversaries.”

Well, it apparently backfired, as US TikTok users are so outraged by the decision that they’re flocking to other, more explicitly Chinese social video apps instead.

The most popular so far is Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, more accurately translated as “Little Red Book” (which has Maoist connotations). In the past few days, the application has gained more than 700,000 new users, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, Duolingo claims a 216% year-over-year increase in people signing up for Mandarin classes, which is attributes to users who learn the language “out of spite”.

The trend may not last, of course, and there are still some kinks to work out. Censorship of LGBTQ+ content, for example, may require a more robust solution than even Americans are accustomed to, who unironically use the term “inanimate” to circumvent content moderation.

But the exodus is already setting the stage for a fascinating cross-cultural exchange – one that also disrupts the best-laid plans of marketers who assumed everyone would immediately switch from TikTok to Instagram or Pinterest.

It always ends up being a secret third thing, doesn’t it?

But wait! There’s more

Bluesky is working on its own photo sharing app called Flashes. [TechCrunch]

Opening arguments have begun in The New York Times’ copyright lawsuit against OpenAI. [Digiday]

Meanwhile, OpenAI will fund four new local Axios newsrooms. [Axios]

Walgreens CEO admits retailer’s anti-shoplifting strategy has failed: “When you lock things up, you don’t sell as much.” [Business Insider]

More than 400 Washington Post employees say they are “deeply concerned” about the paper’s direction, according to an open letter to owner Jeff Bezos. [CNN]

State Farm cancels Super Bowl ad in response to LA wildfires. [Ad Age]

You are employed

Nextdoor hires Michael Kiernan as new CRO. [Adweek]

Outside agency Billups appoints Ranganathan Somanathan to the newly created role of chief global growth officer. [MediaPost]