Andrew Chen: Ultra-Cheap Models Could Unlock Ad-Supported Free AI Apps

a16z partner Andrew Chen argues that new models like Jev, with inference costs over 400x cheaper than general LLMs, could unlock ad-supported free AI-native apps, potentially bringing forward the inflection point where consumer AI ARPUs cover inference costs.

2026-09-20 ~ 2026-09-20 · 2 related posts

• Andrew Chen: 400x cheaper inference could unlock ad-supported free AI-native apps — andrewchen · 2026-09-20
• Andrew Chen revisits ARPU vs inference cost: consumer AI still >10x off — andrewchen · 2026-09-20