> We require clothes for on-site interviews. We require phone service for phone screens and electricity and internet service for video interviews.
Yes but none of them are solely for the purpose of the interview.
> We don’t pay gas/mileage for on-site interviews for local candidates.
Gas is one of those gray areas because technically it's not a required expense. You could live in front of the office and just walk there, you could live in another state and have to spend 100$ on gas to get there. Since it technically is on the candidate, you applied for this job, on site, knowing how far away it was from your home. Therefore the cost is on you.
But LLM's are different. Is a cost on the candidate, that we require them JUST for the interview. Maybe that person would have spent the money elsewhere, or have spent the tokens for another job. That's where I think the main difference lays.