AI usage limits are a product feature now

The most expensive AI bug is not always a bad answer. Sometimes it is a good answer requested too many times, by too many people, with no limit in sight. That is the quiet shift happening around AI products right now. Teams spent the last year asking whether the model was smart enough. The better question for 2026 is whether the product can survive real usage. If a company has to ration AI internally, if an app cannot explain which feature burned the token budget, or if a developer dis