A handful of American households pay for AI. Is the future free — or a subscription?

A woman uses a laptop as she lies on the grass in a park in the Manhattan borough of New York City on April 24, 2026. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP hide caption toggle caption CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Kirby Plessas doesn't have an AI subscription. She has two. As a self-described technophile, she uses chatbots outside of work to plan family parties, tweak cocktail recipes and once to diagnose a broken wine cooler's motherboard. …