Google might start charging for access to search results that use generative artificial intelligence tools. That’s according to a new Financial Times report citing “three people with knowledge of [Google’s] plans.”
Charging for any part of the search engine at the core of its business would be a first for Google, which has funded its search product solely with ads since 2000. But it’s far from the first time Google would charge for AI enhancements in general; the “AI Premium” tier of a Google One subscription costs $10 more per month than a standard “Premium” plan, for instance, while “Gemini Business” adds $20 a month to a standard Google Workspace subscription.
While those paid products offer access to Google’s high-end “Gemini Advanced” AI model, Google also offers free access to its less performant, plain “Gemini” model without any kind of paid subscription.
Good, that means they won’t try to force them on me.
They will absolutely try to force the paid feature on you. How many times have you seen the youtube premium prompt?
None
Oh no, if I don’t give them money, I won’t get LLM enshitification? The horror!
Oh thank god, I’ll be able to avoid seeing it by just not paying.
I don’t even want those features for free, why would I pay for it? lol
Paying for the privilege of using AI to sift through the vast bleak sea of AI generated garbage. What a time to be alive!