Why you'll pay more for AI in 2026, and 3 money-saving tips to try

ZDNet's report on the increasing costs of AI in 2026, driven by rising DRAM costs and more complex chatbot interactions, marks a significant shift in the economics of AI adoption. This means that website owners who rely on AI-powered chatbots or other AI-driven features on their sites can expect to see their costs increase in the coming year. As chatbots become more sophisticated and engage in longer, more nuanced conversations, the computational resources required to support them will grow, leading to higher expenses for website owners who use these services. To mitigate these rising costs, website owners can take several steps, including optimizing their AI bot usage by being more selective about when and how they deploy chatbots, monitoring their AI bot traffic to identify areas where costs can be reduced, and regularly reviewing their llms.txt files to ensure they are not inadvertently allowing unnecessary or costly AI bot interactions on their sites.