The Cost of Buying AI Is Creeping Up, Boosting Microsoft and Other Sellers
Last year, the cost for businesses to purchase state-of-the-art artificial intelligence was plummeting.
Top AI providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google had slashed the price of their flagship AI models by more than 90% compared to prior years, while DeepSeek and other open-source developers were releasing free yet powerful models. Google CEO Sundar Pichai predicted AI would soon be “like air, too cheap to meter.”
It hasn’t turned out that way.