As the tech industry's giants race to build out AI infrastructure — Microsoft spent $34.9 billion in just one quarter while Meta plans to spend up to $72 billion this year — they may not be the only ones footing the multi-hundred-billion-dollar bill.
The consumer is increasingly facing AI-soaked subscription tiers as tech firms attempt to monetize their huge investments and bundle their software offerings with difficult-to-separate-out AI tools that can make it tough for customers to opt out — and more expensive if they don't.
One example is Microsoft 365, which now includes Copilot AI features in many of its tiers. The company recently introduced Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 per month, which bundles Copilot Pro features with Microsoft 365. Previously, Copilot Pro cost $20/month on top of existing subscriptions, and to use it in desktop Office apps, customers also needed a separate Microsoft 365 Personal ($6.99/month) or Family ($9.99/month) plan — bringing the total to roughly $27–$30/month. The base Microsoft 365 subscription itself has become increasingly essential as Microsoft de-emphasizes standalone Office purchases and makes cloud integration more central to document workflows.
Similar bundling of AI tools is becoming the norm from Alphabet to Adobe .
For instance, in March 2025, Google Workspace added its Gemini AI assistant into Business and Enterprise plans with price increases of about $2–$4 per user per month — roughly a 16%–33% jump depending on the tier — and with AI features that, in most cases, can't be removed or opted out of. For a 50-person company on Business Plus, that means an additional $2,400 annually.
Adobe rebranded Creative Cloud All Apps to Creative Cloud Pro starting mid-2025, with prices increasing from $59.99 to $69.99 per month (or $659.88 to $779.99 annually) — a $10-per-month hike linked to expanded generative AI capabilities such as unlimited standard image and vector generation.
Whether the customer wants the AI or not isn't really the point, according to experts — it's the cachet that costs.
"AI is all the rage right now and that buzz fuels what marketers call perceived value bias," said Elizabeth Parkins, professor of practice at Roanoke College. "When something's labeled 'AI-powered,' people assume it must be smarter or more useful, even if it barely changes their experience. That sense of progress makes the extra subscription feel justified — until consumers start asking whether they're paying for innovation or just the illusion of it," she added.
Microsoft, Adobe, and Google did not respond to requests for comment.
Fred Hicks, assistant vice president and chief information officer at Adelphi University, said the companies are adding the extra charges to help pay for multi-billion-dollar data centers and their insatiable appetite for energy.
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