By Shuaib S. Agaka
At a time when artificial intelligence has become the centrepiece of Big Tech's rivalry, access to the most powerful tools often comes at a steep price. OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Anthropic are locked in an aggressive race to dominate the generative AI ecosystem, but for everyday users, creators and small businesses, the competition has largely translated into monthly subscriptions, premium tiers and feature lock-ins.
