The End of Unlimited Free AI

This is not particularly unexpected but it seems like Artificial Intelligence free-for-all on Google Gemini is coming to an end, with much stricter limits on free use like ChatGPT and other services already have.

Today, Google will be hosting one of its most important Google I/O events in years, showing off all sorts of Gemini enhancements and integrations, as well as the new Google Books which puts Gemini front and center. In the run-up to this event, the company has started rolling out an updated look for Gemini, and with it, new usage limits.

Until today, Gemini seemed to be unlimited, at least on the Flash model, but now it looks like Google has succumbed, with the rest of the AI players, to more aggressively monetize their product and prove to investors that the massive spending was worth it and they can make a profit.

The usage limits page has two counters. The first is called current usage, which refreshes every five hours. The second counter is the weekly limit, presumably if you use all this up, then it doesn’t matter if the current usage resets, you’ll be locked out until it resets.

For those who don’t want to wait, there is an option present to you to buy Google AI Plus, which will double your AI quota. For those who don’t want to pay, Google Gemini will just have to become one of many AI apps you switch between when you hit your usage cap.

I am not surprised or all that upset about it all, because I knew that relying on free remote servers to do any kind of useful work into the future was far from guaranteed. I have never liked relying on others or services outside of my control. Indeed, the idea of Centralized AI always seemed like a bad idea to me – not only due to the risk of free limits being cut or exceeded, but because it empowers censorship, manipulation, and abuse by powerful actors in both the private and government sectors.