I reached out to (one of?) the Kagi devs after that and all the “politics kill technology” stupidity

It is a metered payment to the shitheads at brave, not a “partnership” as it were (although I am not convinced that will hold true). I asked about subscribers being able to opt in or out of search engines and he said they are looking into that.

I am not particularly happy about this but I very much get the vibe they are just a dumbfuck “tech bro libertarian” as opposed to someone who actually supports those beliefs. So… if they let me opt out, I’ll renew. Otherwise, fuck 'em.