This week, OpenAI dropped a bombshell: GPT-5, touted as the best model in the world, is priced ridiculously low compared to its competitors. We’re talking $1.25 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens. That’s a fraction of what Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.1 are charging.
The question on everyone’s mind is: will this trigger an AI price war? If so, who stands to benefit? Some devs are already calling GPT-5’s pricing a ‘killer move’ that could pressure other companies to slash their prices. But here’s the thing: big AI companies are spending tens of billions on infrastructure, which usually pushes costs up, not down. So is this a temporary ‘shock price’ to grab market share, or the start of a long-term trend towards affordable AI?
If prices do drop across the board, what changes most? Is it the tools we build, the business models we use, or the type of people who can now afford to play in AI? It’s hard to say, but one thing’s for sure: this is a game-changer. The AI landscape is shifting fast, and startups and indie devs are waiting with bated breath to see what happens next.
What do you think? Will this price war spark a new era of innovation, or is it just a temporary blip on the radar?