$10 Monthly Developer Program credits visible in GCP Billing but AI Studio forces Prepay top-up (No available credits)

Google AI Studio
, ,
1

Hi,

I have an active Google AI Pro subscription which gives me $10 monthly Gen AI & Cloud credits via the Google Developer Program.

Current situation:

  • The credits are correctly issued and visible in Google Cloud Billing > Credits (CREDIT_TYPE_MONTHLY, “Disponible”, ~10$ remaining)

Problem:
Every time I try to use AI Studio or generate an API key, I get redirected to the “Acheter des crédits” page with $0 Prepay balance. The system refuses to use my existing Developer Program credits.

I already:

  • Re-applied the benefit in My Benefits

  • Created new projects

  • Contacted Google Cloud Billing Support

The support agent confirmed it’s a known “handshake issue” between Developer credits and the new Prepay system, and said an initial top-up ($10–25) is required to unlock the Paid Tier.

Question:

  • Is there currently any workaround to use the Developer credits without doing the initial Prepay?

  • Or can the team help manually sync/apply these credits?

This seems to affect quite a few users recently. Any update or official solution would be appreciated.

Screenshots attached:

Thank you!