This smells more like a get you hooked and then crank the costs.
Not that I'd be any less skeptical of the first option. We've already seen providers reduce quotas and raise prices.
I get it. So many tech companies built their platforms around people submitting their work for sale. Now that things have cooled down they're desperate. This is exactly like what happened to the music and movie industries.
If they want to make money they must take bigger creative risks. AI is the exact opposite of that because it's trained on what's already been done.
Apple: "Did somebody say 'we want cheaper AI'?"
Good luck, but define "cheaper" ? If you have to pay, no individual will pay, just corporations.
Fee with ads is the right fit for most people. But I don't think that describes most Apple customers or developers.