Let's also not forget that rate-limiting is a trivial thing and small but non-zero charge is also a trivial thing (and would have the convenient benefit of more than paying for itself).

They actively want the free tiers which make the traffic flood/abuse possible because they want the community/market capture and the data.

None of this is unavoidable burden sat on them from the outside like a solar flare.

They push the use of AI tools including their own, and choose not to do any of the trivial things that any of us in any form of IT knows they could do to rate-limit which wouldn't hurt any normal legit user, even ones that want to use AIs.

They beg people to run wild on their service and then fall over every other day from it, and just keep on begging people to run wild on their service. It's been literally years now. Not some new development.