An answer that costs nothing is still paid for. The only question is by whom – and when.
Free or very cheap AI offerings shift costs: onto investors who accept losses; onto other business units that cross-subsidise; or onto a future in which prices rise once lock-in is strong enough.
Not only: what is AI worth? But: who finances which price, and for how long?
This note has since moved out of the current edition. Its argument continues in the lead story "The Cost of Intelligence".
