OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger (aka @steipete) just called out the industry's worst-kept secret. They don't really want your subscription money—they want your code.
https://twitter.com/steipete/status/2046199257430888878
Take Z.ai, which recently updated its GLM Coding Plan policy. It now explicitly states the plan is for writing code only. Any non-programming use—like running AI agents, role-playing, or translating websites—will get hit with aggressive rate limits. Violate the rules three times, and you're permanently banned. Oh, and you won't get a refund.
Reddit is already full of people who got caught. Many bought the cheap plan to run OpenClaw or just chat, only to find their accounts suspended without warning.
https://www.reddit.com/r/SillyTavernAI/comments/1skw6z0/warning_zai_coding_plan_policy_changes_noncoding/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
You think you're getting a deal, but they're making out like bandits. Real, private code data is a hundred times more valuable than the public stuff on GitHub. It's the gold mine for training the next generation of AI models.
Meanwhile, using these plans to run agents, chat, or role-play doesn't generate any useful data. It just burns through their scarcest resource: GPU compute. So the subsidies vanish overnight, and the rules change on a dime.
This isn't just a Z.ai problem. The entire AI industry is shifting from a subsidy-fueled user grab to a ruthless data grab.
AI is going to get more expensive. The only people who'll keep getting cheap rates are the ones helping these models evolve—by feeding them fresh, proprietary code. This trend is part of a broader industry push, as seen with tools like OpenAI's Codex morphing into a desktop superapp and Alibaba's new Qwen3.6 model aiming to be your AI coding partner.🤪