It is also intended to protect the usage patterns of pro subscribers.
As has been amply explained, the API pricing per token is far more for equivalent use when maximizing a subscription plan.
It isn’t really a massive hurdle to deal with this full SPA load check. If one is even aware it exists they already have the skills to bypass it anyway.
I get why people would “what about” the automation inherit in what OpenAI is doing but that is a separate matter.
Other businesses and applications can put into place their own hurdles and anti bot practices to protect the models they’ve leaned into—-and they have been.