{
  "id": 13715465,
  "title": "The developer of an AI-powered driving instruction simulator is spending $1,000 per month just to keep its demo running",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/11/the-developer-of-an-ai-powered-driving-instruction-simulator-is",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-11T12:31:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PC Gamer",
    "slug": "pc-gamer",
    "url": "https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/the-developer-of-an-ai-powered-driving-instruction-simulator-is-spending-usd1-000-per-month-just-to-keep-its-demo-running/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Teach My Little Sister How To Drive is a comic simulation game where players coach their virtual sibling on driving techniques. Behind the sister's eyes is an LLM chatbot, currently powered by an OpenAI model, to converse and provide vocal instructions. The developers, Easy Fox, released a demo in February, which has seen a surge in players, causing a twentyfold increase in the number of demo players. This growth has significantly increased operating costs, with Easy Fox spending over $1,000 per day on AI services for the demo. The increase in players amounts to 450 concurrent users. Easy Fox has taken out a bank loan to keep the demo running, but they may need to close it earlier than expected before the full release due to financial pressure. The developers plan to account for expected AI usage in the game's price, but token costs are expected to pile up over time. They are exploring options like local AI models for players with capable GPUs to address the issue. The game is set to release in January next year, and it remains to be seen how the finances will hold up.",
  "summary": "Teach My Little Sister How to Drive centres around a costly chatbot.",
  "key_points": [
    "Teach My Little Sister How To Drive uses LLM chatbot for driving instructions.",
    "Demo players surged 20-fold, causing $1,000 daily AI costs.",
    "Developers took bank loan, may close demo early due to financial strain."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}