My point being I don't value paying for it, and it's a shame to see development effort focused this way, as others have said, so follow a trend. There is already so much wrong with mainstream search that can be improved upon, adding a me-too AI feature really doesn't seem like a great use of time.
Otoh, maybe the calculus is that it will draw in new users who also are following the trend? I just hope real advances in website discovery and business model do not take a back seat to this