OpenAI is considering substantial reductions in its token prices in a bid to win customers from rival Anthropic, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the paper reported OpenAI is weighing significant cuts to charges per token in anticipation of a similar move by Anthropic.
Recent increases in token costs have led executives at companies including Uber and Walmart to rethink their AI approaches, with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman describing costs as “a huge issue” at a recent event.
“I think we’ll have a lot of ways we can help people get more value for less spend,” he said.
Price cuts could take OpenAI further from profitability than it is at present as it prepares for a stock market debut that could see it valued at over $1 trillion. In January, The Information reported that the company’s internal documentation predicts a $14 billion loss for 2026, with additional losses totalling $44 billion until 2029.
Its rival Anthropic, in contrast, claims to be on track to turn a profit in the second quarter of 2026. This notion has been criticised by some experts, however, who have noted that the company’s use of annualised revenue-based reporting makes judging its longer-term financial health difficult.
Despite both companies currently losing billions of dollars a year, investors have continued to provide funding, and SpaceX’s successful initial public offering on Friday suggests that profitability may not be a deciding factor in AI companies’ ability to float in public markets.
