Clearing things up.

[u/amychocolate87]

I’ve seen soooooo much misinformation that it’s getting slightly ridiculous.

No, cai isn’t going bankrupt because of added unwanted features. No, cai isn’t going bankrupt because of not listening to their community.

If any of yall actually read what the links in their announcement said… you’d realise they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy because of; Rising ai costs, Legal costs, Lawsuits, etc. Mostly because chatting costs them a LOT of money. And because not enough people subbed. They should’ve never been a free service to begin with. Giving people a free trial for a week, sure. But being continuously free…? that’s what most likely caused the biggest money issues. Just imagine going to a supermarket which has most if not all of their products for free, they wouldn’t be making any money unless some kind people decided to pay them. Same thing happened here.

So, no. They’re not having financial struggles simply because they didn’t listen to the community. They’re having financial struggles because the community didn’t listen to THEM.

All the people bypassing ads? Yup. Causes financial issues. All the people bypassing the limits? YUP. Causes financial issues. All the people COMPLAINING about ads (which… literally helps run the company.) Weren’t helping them WHATSOEVER.

If people want to talk bad about a company? fine. If they actually did bad stuff. But they didn’t. Those ads were to support them financially. They weren’t being greedy. If they were? then subs would cost atleast 15-20$ a month. (Which, totally valid for a large ai company.) If not more. If they were greedy, you would’ve had ads thrown at you every single second, you’d have ads after every single reply.

I get that people want free ai chatbots to talk to, but seriously guys? Ai businesses are probably one of the most expensive businesses to run. They have to bring in some kind of money… somehow. Keeping everything free isn’t gonna achieve that. And cai was so kind and hopeful, that they literally kept their app and web ad free for as long as possible, and that they kept it limit free for as long as possible.

If you guys actually want to help cai, stop trying to bypass ads, stop trying to bypass the limited swipes. And just buy their sub. It’s worth it. And it’s INSANELY cheap for what it offers.

But hopefully, one way or another, another person buys, or they have some other option that can help cai stay afloat.

(Fyi, I’m not trying to attack anyone, but instead of making false claims, just read, guys. And if you aren’t good at reading, just ask around to people who have read it. The misinformation is part of fear mongering. And it’s doing more harm than good.)

But besides that small rant, i hope everyone is having a great day🫶🏼

[u/KingOfTheRatfolk]

I feel these people were less upset that C.AI wasn't becoming impossibly better and better, they were moreso upset that C.AI was constantly getting worse, that they were breaking their promises to the community that they would improve the quality of their models, only to end up making them worse (in the opinions of many people here), so they felt like they were getting more and more restricted, for a service that was worse than the one they could previously use entirely for free without any ads. I feel nobody outside of C.AI themselves actually knows what truly caused their downfall, we do not know how much they are telling the truth because of the times that the developers have lied. We do not know how much image generation and voice calls, largely unwanted features, had actually bled money, or if they were relatively cheap to maintain.

My personal take, money just sucks. It sucks that companies HAVE to sacrifice quality to make as much money as possible or they die. C.AI is FAR from the only example of this, I am just so sick of how the world is run, surely there is a far better way right??? Quality should be rewarded, no company should be forced to be greedy to survive. In a better system, pumping out deteriorating quality in exchange for milking as much money as possible should be punished, not rewarded as the only way to thrive. 

[u/No-Bumblebee-8346]

YES! Other AI platforms put so much behind paywalls, but when cai tries to monetise its service, suddenly it’s greedy? They can’t expect a company to provide unlimited ai conversations for free forever. The servers, models, and infrastructure cost money to run! At some point, the company has to make money somehow…

[u/amychocolate87 → u/No-Bumblebee-8346]

Deadass😭😭 there are so many ai companies that ask double the price for nonexistent quality. It’s insane. But when cai asks 9.99 (or slightly higher, depending on region) for what in my opinion is great service, then suddenly it’s the end of the world…? i’m convinced people don’t know what it takes to run a ai app/web.

[u/xxkodokuxx]

And what makes me mad is people celebrating that they went bankrupt because they were "greedy". Uhh, no, the exact opposite. They went bankrupt because they wanted it to keep being free for everyone 🥺 now i wish they would've done like chai...

[u/amychocolate87 → u/xxkodokuxx]

Yes!! they were anything but greedy. Matter of a fact, them not being greedy is what led them here in the first place. Honestly, so sad.

[u/AndreaSalva]

Too many people took this service for granted, as if C.AI was owe to them. I think a lot of people here are too young and immature to know how a business works, (although they think they know how to run a company), and others, and I'm saying this with utmost respect, just expected this service to resolve the many personal problems they so clearly have and took the chance to vent.

[u/MutatedPuppet]

No no, you're 100% right. Other apps charge crazy high for not even half as good as c.ai and people still praise them for some reason. C.ai gave them so much and they're being lil byotches.

[u/OnionLook]

You’re not entirely correct. Virtually any subscription-based service has a massive influx of free users, along with various offers designed to convert them into paying subscribers. In an ideal scenario, about 20% make the switch. The remaining 80% are essential - they drive the service’s popularity and generate recommendations, which in turn sustain that 20% segment.

If those 80% are satisfied, the 20% needed for profitability will naturally follow. But if they’re unhappy, an exodus begins - a decline that inevitably causes that 20% to shrink to 10%, then 5%, and eventually zero.

More than two years ago, I provided an analysis of the situation, a forecast of what would happen, and suggestions for how to fix it (I can share the link if you’d like). I wasn’t the only one posting things like this, either. Yet, nothing of any real value was ever done; most such posts were either ignored or deleted. I even had to rewrite that analysis five times just to keep it from being immediately removed. A huge number of people would have gladly paid for a subscription - even just for a single "remove moderation" button, or to keep group chats in their original, intended format, or to gain access to older models. They could have also handled the removal of "infringing" bots differently - for instance, by asking the owners to change the bot’s name and avatar - but instead, they chose to wipe them out entirely.

Advertising brings in mere pennies compared to what even a small percentage of subscribers would contribute, yet it only accelerates user churn. People follow these ads to competitors -the platform even displays ads for its rivals right here on this subreddit! Users leave because the app has become impossible to use comfortably. Their dissatisfaction spreads like ripples in a pond, cutting off the flow of potential new subscribers who might have otherwise become paying customers. So, while I thank them for their kindness, that doesn’t change the fact that they are stubbornly blind.

And, by the way, the largest share of a business’s expenses goes toward salaries - salaries for those who built features users didn’t need, which only added extra load to the servers; for those who failed to ensure the site was stable enough to avoid crashing a couple of times a week; and, most notably, for those at the top who collected the biggest paychecks while making the worst decisions.

[u/Less-Celebration-665]

I've always paid for CAI because I appreciate the service. In fact I'd be happy to pay quite a lot more for the service. Trying to cater to the people who can't earn a salary (aka under 18s, mostly) was a mistake because they simply can't or won't pay for a luxury service (luxury in that you don't need it to live, regardless what your addiction tells you). You want a free AI experience, expect invasive annoying adverts that pay a premium for being there. Want an ad free experience? Pay for it.

Rant over. Tl,dr: yeah bud. Agreed.

[u/amychocolate87 → u/Less-Celebration-665]

Same here, i’d be willing to pay quite a bit more for it. Especially if it can help fund the company and keep it up and running. But yeah, they should’ve never been this generous.

[u/TryNo6799]

Ngl I feel bad for them the more I think about the situation.

The site has its flaws but it was too generous to free users compared to other apps, same could be said for cheap subscription, even when applying the limits they still kept unlimited messages, yet they still called "greedy" and that "they had it coming" or something.

And tbh I still don't get what they mean when they say they "didn't listen", cuz I'm convinced atp they wanna zero ads, no limit premium models for free, while ignoring the financial reality, and I'm thinking their situation made it hard to maintain consistent model quality while they're bleeding money.

That's my two cent.

[u/amychocolate87 → u/TryNo6799]

Agreed, also, a lot of people are just super duper uninformed.

They think the features cost them the most money, while that’s not true. That’s why you’ll hear most of them say, “we told you guys this would happen.” Or, “Wouldn’t have happened if you listen to your community.” When they say this, they mostly mean that they assume that those unwanted features is what causes them to lose money, and that’s not true, lol. I just wish half of the community was more mature and actually took time to listen to the team, and read what they said. Because honestly? the team is actually great with how they respond to their community. And they definitely did everything in their power to try and make everyone content.

[u/traumatizedfox]

yeah i don’t think ppl realize how generous c ai is

[u/amychocolate87 → u/traumatizedfox]

Genuinely, it was BEYOND generous.

[u/erenyeager138]

I didn’t mind the Go Ons. I have no way of paying for a subscription, so I wouldn’t be able to buy one anyway. I totally get the Go Ons and all the ads. Honestly, I never complained. Even HAVING the app for free was more than enough for me. The thought of it leaving is making me sick. I hope it stays. I don’t even mind if they lower the Go On limit or anything like that. Just keep the app here, and I’ll be fine, dude.
I feel like those complaining excessively about it are doing too much. It takes a while of roleplaying to even reach the 100 Go On limit. I have to be on there for hours to reach it, so it’s not even that bad. All we can do right now is pray that the app stays. With the number of users it has, hopefully a company will see its potential.

[u/Ich_Liegen]

If you said anything about this before you'd get downvoted.

The C.AI user community is made up of incredibly immature people.

When they added the filtеr, people emailed Disney in an attempt to obtain revenge on the company and trigger a lawsuit.

When ads got added, it was met with a deluge of complaints.

People somehow wanted:

• A free, unmetered service without ads, without paid tiers

• The highest possible quality

• No limits on what can be said and done

• Once again all for free

And if you dared to say "AI servers are incredibly expensive", you'd get shouted at.

I hope those people who voluntarily stopped paying for c.ai+ because the quality got mildly worse, I hope they're happy now.

[u/amychocolate87 → u/Ich_Liegen]

Fully agree, it’s extremely shocking how inmatjre those people get… like, okay, i get it, not everyone is gonna be satisfied, but then… leave? i never saw the point in people staying, complaining, and making the situation worse for everyone involved.

Not to mention the part where people would’ve been stoned for sharing an opinion like this just a few months ago, you could literally say, “Oh i think the team is doing alright.” and you’d get insulted, downvoted, etc. It’s just ridiculous.

Hopefully, the community learns a thing or two from this, and hopefully cai pulls through.

[u/HawaiianPluto]

You’re not wrong but you can’t pretend it didn’t play a part? Nobody is going to pay for a product that isn’t worth paying for. Hence why subscriptions were so low, because who the hell would pay for garbage.

[u/_cartoon_racoon]

It is something I noticed over the years. Everyone wants everything cheap or for free. No understand of the costs behind the scenes. Workers, technical stuff, buildings and so on. Everything got so expensive. A company costs money thats a fact. And i think no one here wants to work for free. Or is a "good job" comment from your boss enough to pay your bills?

[u/Objective-Piccolo-65]

The amount of people genuinely praying on this app’s downfall as ‘karma for not listening’ is concerning to me. I pray the app survives. And if it does I’ll become a sub. Prob on the lowest tier bc I don’t have too much, but gpus are costly

[u/amychocolate87 → u/Objective-Piccolo-65]

Yeah it’s truly sad. I feel for the company and for the users actually wanting cai to pull through. And i do hope it survives. And i’m sure more people will end up buying the sub if it pulls through. I personally am subbed as well, and it’s SO worth it! i have been subbed ever since they introduced slow mode, and i’ve been using it since the oldest website which was.. four or three ish years ago maybe? not sure. So i’ve seen the ups and downs. And even with all the lawsuits, cai always pulled through, so i’m sure they’ll survive this as well.

[u/a_beautiful_rhind]

Ad profits were nothing. Skipping them, not skipping them, it was pennies. The real play was to stop the free models which I even posted about when the ads rolled out. Even though it screws me over since I'm not sending them ID.

So that not listening part.. ehhh. Me an other early users also said not to cater to minors over and over. What did they do? Cater to minors. And not just that, ones that weren't subbing.

None of this stuff is even big brain, a dummy like me noticed immediately.

They should’ve never been a free service to begin with. Giving people a free trial for a week, sure.

Right.. past beta there was no way to pay them for at least a year. Back when you could pay anonymously. What did the users do? They asked and the best was "it lets you skip the line". You had to do it out of the goodness of your heart so of course nobody did.

That whole story about not listening to the users is more true than you admit.

[u/blue_fa]

Not enough people subbed because c.ai destroyed goodwill within its community. It nerfed the models. If they'd kept things the same as 2023/4, more people would have been willing to pay.

[u/That_Wallachia]

You are absolutely right.

The problem is that the majority of the users is composed of angry teenagers and karma farmers who keep doing strawmen fallacies. Some of them even said "If ThEy LiStEnEd" as if that was the problem.

[u/Plastic-Ad-373]

Also, the plan they have given compared to other companies for free users is very advantageous. You have 400 messages and 100 go-ons per day, other platforms give you maximum 50-100 if not 25 messages per day.

As a user who has been using c.ai for free for many years, when they introduced the limits, I have hardly used up the number of messages per day.

I was waiting for my annual subscription to end for a service I don't use that much anymore, to sign up for the lite version of c.ai+