Not just AI. Every subscription in general can be a time bomb. You grow more dependent on it, and the provider can disappear or take it away at any moment.
This is exactly true and it’s what every SaaS company counts on. They have four basic moves:
1. Sell you X seats, expecting that internal network effects will get you to 3X soon enough.
2. Sell you X seats, noting that as soon you reach 2X seats, you need to move to the Enterprise plan, under which largely the same feature set plus a couple of gated SCIM controls will cost twice as much.
3. Sell you X seats for their core product, then announce that features B and C are actually an additional SKU that requires additional per-seat subscriptions that double the cost.
4. Sell you X seats for their core product, then immediately announce that you’re on a “legacy plan”, but they’re happy to move you now to their updated offering, which is the same product but now structured to cost twice as much.
I would expand this to any dumped product or service. Whenever the real cost isn't paid now it will sometime in future or will collapse. Just look at how extractive food delivery and taxis are. Start with dumping. Then be last one to survive and fleece all the sides you can.
1. Sell you X seats, expecting that internal network effects will get you to 3X soon enough.
2. Sell you X seats, noting that as soon you reach 2X seats, you need to move to the Enterprise plan, under which largely the same feature set plus a couple of gated SCIM controls will cost twice as much.
3. Sell you X seats for their core product, then announce that features B and C are actually an additional SKU that requires additional per-seat subscriptions that double the cost.
4. Sell you X seats for their core product, then immediately announce that you’re on a “legacy plan”, but they’re happy to move you now to their updated offering, which is the same product but now structured to cost twice as much.