But, currently ... you're not. AI companies are operating at a loss, and are being subsidized by their investors.

Local may or may not be cheaper than remote now, depending on the details, but the factors you describe won't affect the math nearly as much as they will once that subsidization ends.

In that analogy bigtech AI is currently investing in cleaner air for all of us? We _could_ breath it through their hose, but might as well breath it outside.