Now, I know how crazy inflation has been these past several years in many parts of the world, but prices overall are still not high enough to make me swallow the aforementioned $250/month price tag just like that.
And, as it turns out, I'm not alone in this sticker shocker sentiment. The new subscription got people split down the middle.But before we start discussing our feelings, we should briefly check what's up with Google's new plan. After all, one must get lots of goodies for a quarter of a grand per month, right?
30,000 gigabytes of Google storage, not just AI
Buy the ticket, ride the DeepMind train
The 30 TB storage solely costs $150, YouTube Premium is $14: taken out of the $250 fee for the Ultra plan, that's leaving us with… what, less than $90 for the rest of the AI bundle? Cut that in half (as an initial promo), and there you have it: $50 for the new plan!But that won't happen. I think the Big G has included the 30 TB storage option to amaze us, but even without it, the price wouldn't drop below $200 realistically speaking. Not in 2025, at least.I suspect that the advanced Deep Think model and the AI video generation are to blame for the high price here – these are not platforms that were created overnight.Also, AI-generated video is expensive because it relies on very powerful computers to process huge amounts of data. Creating a video frame by frame with realistic motion, lighting, and detail takes a lot of computing power, especially when the quality is high. The AI models that make this possible are extremely advanced and costly to train, often using vast datasets and running for weeks or months on high-end hardware. Even after the model is trained, generating each video requires large amounts of processing in real time, which is expensive to run.There's something else as well. AI might be getting smarter, but its thirst is growing too. Training advanced models like Gemini guzzles thousands of liters of water for cooling – sometimes even clean drinking water. While some data centers use recycled or non-potable sources, many still tap into precious freshwater supplies. Google boasts about AI breakthroughs but stays mum on the mounting environmental cost. As the planet faces wildfires and water shortages, prioritizing convenience over conservation feels not just shortsighted, but shameful.
We're divided once again
If you take a stroll on Reddit, you'll see that people are interested in the new Deep Think model, but many are repulsed by the high subscription fee: As people note, trying a 30 TB cloud storage plan comes with several potential downsides. One major concern is vendor lock-in. Once you've uploaded terabytes of data, moving that data to another service can be slow, expensive, and complicated, especially if you rely on that cloud provider's unique tools or formats.There's also the risk of depending too much on a single provider for critical files, which could be problematic in the event of outages, service disruptions, or policy changes. Additionally, uploading and managing 30 TB requires fast and reliable internet (fiber isn't exactly super pricey, but it's not cheap as well), and if you stop paying, your access to that data could be limited or cut off. Ouch!Of course, there are some who are OK with the Ultra plan:
The supporters of Google's Ultra plan are not that numerous – but that's only natural, given the price tag we're dealing with here.What is your take on the whole thing? Is that an overcharged bundle, or $250/month is a fair price to pay for what is being offered? Let me know in the comments below.