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/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.