HF pricing update: Inference API Paid tier sunset; launch of Inference Endpoints and Spaces hardware upgrades

AI Impact Summary

HF is sunsetting the Paid tier of the Inference API, while keeping the API free to use. Enterprises are steered toward Inference Endpoints for enterprise-grade inference, and Spaces now offers hardware upgrades for ML demos. Billing shifts to credit-card onboarding with monthly charges and a consolidated invoice available from the central billing settings, centralizing management of all paid services (AutoTrain, Spaces, Inference Endpoints). This pricing shift tightens monetization around compute services and will require teams to adjust budgeting and service selections accordingly.