Subsidizing AI

• Flight tickets — business class subsidizes economy.

• Amazon tax — everyone subsidizes Prime shipping.

• The U.S. health system — the insured and taxpayers subsidize the uninsured.

You see the same pattern in tech.

• Free tiers are paid for by premium users¹.

• Ads subsidize R&D.

• Creators “subsidize” AI training with their work².

• Commercial labs subsidize open-source research by releasing models that cost millions to train.

• Users act as unpaid QA testers.

• The public subsidizes data centers (through energy grids, infrastructure, and tax incentives).

The pattern’s everywhere once you start looking.

1. Though free-tier users still “pay” with attention (ads) and privacy (data).

2. Though maybe we should start calling it theft.