Uber's shift from subsidies to profit (2017-2019)
Uber spent years offering rides below cost to win riders and drivers. After going public in 2019, it raised prices and cut incentives to chase profitability.
Fares rose and some users complained, but Uber kept most of its customer base.
The company eventually reached profitability, showing that a low-price disruptor can raise prices once it dominates a market.
DeepSeek faces the same test: whether users who came for cheap AI will stay once prices climb.
