Sam Lessin, of Slow Ventures and one of my favorite podcasts, “More or Less”, vibe coded a simple website that shows the prices of tokens from various models.
When I first saw the wide variation in token prices I was surprised. But I am curious as to what to conclude.
Open AI and Anthropic are the premium priced tokens, although competition between the two leaders may drive that down. (WSJ/Paywall)
In comparison, Xai is dirt cheap. Is it a bargain alternative or is it (as I suspect) the market signaling its lack of value. I’ve never used Grok so I can’t offer a first hand opinion.
Google is interesting. Gemini is a powerful LLM with a lot of usage (although it’s hard to compare apples to apples with Google’s embedded AI in search and Google Apps.). Google has deep pockets so their mid-range pricing might be a very intentional positioning to gain share with developers.
In any case, the cost of tokens and the future ramifications for Insurance Enterprises is something I think is not broadly understood in the C-Suite. I’ll be writing more on that topic in the future.