Thank you for the update!
A few comments:
1. I think it is a good thing for balance to increase the costs of cities. Given how powerful the population factor is now, increasing the opportunity cost of investing in lots of cities makes the choice more meaningful.
2. Could we get more detail on what the AI does now, and how that justifies the reduction of bonuses they're afforded? Pretty excited to see what they do.
3. I've definitely seen the AI build farms and cities. They just don't go out of their way to dedicate entire planet of two to food production, which some players do to build up a high number of cities. Maybe the AI could benefit from a dedicated food governor?