Story · Simon Willison
We're going to need default hard budget caps on pretty much everything (Simon Willison)
blog post · Story page
Willison wants pay-by-usage services to ship hard caps by default: after $X a month, cut the thing off and return errors. A warning email at midnight leaves the rogue service billing you while you sleep.
In plain words
- Willison wants services that charge for each use to stop when a customer reaches their spending limit.
- Programs created with artificial intelligence can generate charges by using paid services.
- Warning emails leave the service running, so bills can keep growing before anyone notices.
- Automatic shutoffs would protect customers from bills above their chosen limits.
Appeared in
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Oct 05, 2026 · in the sections
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