Title truncated slightly to fit HN limits.

Wasn't it kinda the expected outcome? All those subscription models without limits (requests are not a good limit) or direct connection to tokens as currency (use another word if you'd like to) are ROI negative. The era of heavily subsidized AI products can't remain forever. They just need to change something to earn money, and tokens are a great way for inflation emulation. Every economist knows how to maintain inflation and emit money (tokens) when needed to turn to the new stage.

I remember how, in the early days, my friend was buying token packages instead of having a monthly subscription, and it did work well for him until the next model update, which required more tokens for the same operation, and after some time, the outcome for $10 yesterday wasn't the same as for today. So, the market figured out which currency it will use.