OpenAI is considering significant price reductions for its artificial intelligence products as competition with Anthropic intensifies and corporate customers increasingly push back against soaring AI spending, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the matter.
The potential pricing shift comes at a pivotal moment for the AI industry. OpenAI and Anthropic, two of the sector's most prominent developers, are both navigating growing customer concerns about costs while simultaneously preparing for potential public-market scrutiny as each company advances toward an initial public offering.
According to The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is "weighing significant cuts to what it charges for tokens, the unit of measurement artificial-intelligence firms use to bill for their products." The report added that OpenAI expects Anthropic, one of its closest rivals, could pursue similar pricing adjustments.
The debate reflects a broader change in corporate attitudes toward AI. Earlier this year, many companies focused primarily on expanding AI adoption. Now, executives are increasingly scrutinizing whether those investments are producing measurable returns.
OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman acknowledged the shift during an enterprise-focused event this month, saying AI costs have rapidly become a central concern for customers.
"People were totally happy with the amount they were spending," Altman said, noting that spending discussions "never came up" at the beginning of the year. He added that costs are now a "huge issue."
The pressure stems largely from token consumption, the metric used to calculate usage of AI systems. Every prompt, response, and automated workflow consumes tokens, creating expenses that have grown rapidly as businesses expanded AI deployments across their organizations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, some companies exhausted annual AI budgets within months, while others experienced spending increases that doubled or tripled original projections. The phenomenon has become common enough to earn an industry nickname: "tokenmaxxing."
The term refers to employees relying heavily on advanced AI models for tasks that could often be handled by less expensive systems. As a result, companies including Uber, Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce and DoorDash have reportedly introduced new controls, monitoring systems, or usage restrictions designed to better manage AI expenditures.
Current subscription pricing remains substantial across the industry's premium offerings:
- OpenAI subscriptions range from approximately $8 to $100 per month depending on service tier.
- Anthropic charges about $17 monthly for its annual Claude Pro plan.
- Anthropic's Claude Max plans start at roughly $100 per month and can cost more depending on usage.
The pricing debate is unfolding as both companies move closer to public markets. Axios reported that OpenAI could face heightened investor scrutiny after The Wall Street Journal detailed missed internal revenue targets and reported disagreements between Altman and Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar regarding the timing of a potential IPO.
Anthropic, meanwhile, confidentially filed IPO paperwork in June. NBC News reported that the filing arrived earlier than many market observers expected.
"This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review," Anthropic said in a statement. "The number of shares to be offered and the price have not yet been set."
