We've announced one business model and do intend to iterate and add others, but that's all we've announced for now. The plan is definitely to be sustainable over the long-term.
Anyway the answer is ads. This just means it's going to be ads. It's always fucking ads. No one has ever gone into a capitalistic venture sans business plan and ended up doing anything besides selling fucking ads.
If they can run it with a small enough team, then freemium could be feasible. Sell special tools and functions to the power users.
The ads let you know what services are not worth your time, or only worth consuming with sufficient adblocking.
They're really doing you a great service by advertising that you're the product.
Also, hope is not lost for ad-free capitalism. For the first time ever I'm actually paying for subscription services that don't have ads (yet). Mostly to do with search and AI.
And don't worry about Phase Two. Phase Three is when the profit will happen.
That's quite the reach. The actual information you got, is them not telling you publicly. Either because they can't, or don't want to.
I mean, I do sympathize with your frustration, tho. Every time I read this lobotomized "Rampart-AMA" PR shit, a few of my own brain cells commit suicide. It's insulting.