August 5, 2024 at 12:00 AM EDT

For a technology that promises to help businesses cut costs, artificial intelligence has had a big problem with being so costly.

AI’s scaling laws, which state that more computing power is required to develop more powerful models, have led tech companies to spend billions on building extensive data centers and acquiring powerful chips. These expenses are inevitably passed on to customers. For instance, Google’s AI tool designed for generating documents or emails for office workers adds $20 to their employer’s monthly $6 bill for the company’s Workspace suite, per staff member. Similarly, Microsoft Corp.’s Copilot AI assistant costs $30 a month per worker.