A1June 9, 2026·2 min read·219 words·8 vocab words·Source: TechCrunch

Tech Companies Look at Cheap AI

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Tech Companies Look at Cheap AI
Photo: TechCrunch
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AI models are expensive. Now companies look at AI models. A man named Brian Armstrong has a prediction. He says 80% of AI will use models. Only 20% of will use models. This is a change for AI companies. Many AI companies use models now. They think models are the best. But models a lot of money. Some companies models. A called Harvey does a Harvey is a legal AI tool. It uses a for easy It uses a for hard The is good. The goes down. The stays the same. Gabe Pereyra works at Harvey. He says is first. But is changing. Now companies want the best for the job. Some models are from China. Some models are open-weight. But the real question is models vs small models. Companies can save money with small models. They can use GPT-5.4-mini or DeepSeek V4 Flash. The price war is active. Small models are models are expensive. This is new for the AI industry. Before now, companies used only models. Now they look at small models. It is not clear what will happen. But the change is

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Comprehension
Question 1 of 4

What does Brian Armstrong predict?

Grammar spotlight

Present simple for facts

One point · A1

We use present simple to talk about facts and general truths. The verb does not change for he/she/it except adding -s.

From this article

Big AI models are expensive.

What to know · A1

Use it today

Try saying this aloud

Neutral register

Scenario: Talking about AI models with a friend

  1. 01The model is cheap.
  2. 02The company does a test.
  3. 03Quality is good.

Register tip · informal

🔑Key Phrases

cheap AI modelsAI models that do not cost a lot of money

This is the main topic of the article. At A1, learners see a simple noun phrase with an adjective.

adjective + noun phrase

I want a cheap phone.

a big changea very important difference

This phrase shows a common adjective-noun combination. Learners can use it in many contexts.

adjective + noun phrase

The weather is a big change today.

🎙️ Article Audio — Kokoro TTS

Tech Companies Look at Cheap AI

Adapted from TechCrunch · Read the original. LectoPress rewrites the facts as original graded-reader text for language learners.

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