Ex-Sarvam AI product manager says Bengaluru home rent and Claude bill cost the same
For someone who has just lost their job, spending $200 every month on an AI subscription may not seem like an easy decision. Sneha Prabhu, a former employee of Indian AI startup Sarvam, recently found herself thinking along these lines when she considered getting a personal subscription to Anthropic's Claude. What made the decision even harder was a comparison she stumbled upon while calculating the expense that the subscription costs almost as much as her monthly room rent in Bengaluru.
Prabhu shared this experience in a post on X, talking about facing unemployment for the first time and reconsidering how much she would spend on AI tools. She said she was thinking of purchasing the $200 Claude plan to experiment with the technology and use it for random tasks. However, the monthly cost made her pause.
She lives in a residential society in Koramangala, one of Bengaluru's popular neighbourhoods, where her room costs around $200 (roughly Rs 19,000) in monthly rent. The fact that an AI subscription could take up an almost identical amount of money caught her attention. An ex Sarvam AI employee talks about financial struggles. Her post has since drawn reactions from other users, with several discussing whether premium AI subscriptions are necessary for people who use these tools for personal projects and experimentation. One user suggested that a $100 subscription could be sufficient for occasional use, adding that even with side projects and weekly tasks, they had not exhausted their usage limits. Another recommended opting for the $20 Claude plan alongside Codex instead of paying for the more expensive subscription. Some users, meanwhile, viewed spending on Claude as an investment in AI capabilities.
Prabhu's experience also brings attention to a growing concern around the cost of using advanced AI tools. While monthly plans offer access to powerful models, people who rely heavily on AI coding assistants and agents can face considerably higher expenses. Even large technology companies are becoming cautious about these costs. Last month, it was reported that Microsoft and Meta were encouraging employees to use their own AI products instead of relying heavily on Anthropic's Claude.
Microsoft had earlier estimated that its internal spending on Anthropic's AI technology could reach at least $1 billion this year. However, that estimate was reportedly reduced by more than a third, with employees being encouraged to use Microsoft's own AI products wherever possible.
Meta has also increased its focus on internal AI tools. The number of employees using Claude Code reportedly fell from around 60,000 to 30,000, while the company's own coding tools gained users.
The expenses associated with AI usage can go far beyond individual subscriptions. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan recently disclosed that he spends around $100,000 to $200,000 annually on AI tokens. He uses AI agents for coding, research, professional assignments and several personal tasks. Tan acknowledged that this level of spending is a privilege that most people cannot afford. He also said AI agents remain too expensive and that their costs need to come down before more people can use them regularly.- Ends
Ankita Garg is a tech journalist with more than 9 years of experience. She is always curious about new gadgets and loves writing about them. When not writing, you will find her painting or sketching.
