Tomasz Tunguz Blog · 2026-03-30 · 66d

From Jevon's Paradox to Veblen Goods: How AI Pricing Will Reshape Competitive Advantage

As AI model pricing shifts from declining to premium, the economics of AI adoption fundamentally changes from cost minimization to capability maximization. Companies with sufficient capital will gain outsized advantages, potentially creating a new competitive moat where balance sheets determine AI leadership rather than efficiency.

12 metrics· Cited 0× in the knowledge base ·Open source ↗

Metrics in this report

Anthropic Revenue Run Rate Growth

9 to 19billion USD

comparison

End 2025 to March 2026

Blog Subscriber Base

150000subscribers

point-in-time

Tomasz Tunguz blog readership

Claude Mythos Input Pricing

15-25$ per 1M tokens

rumored range

Claude Mythos model input tokens

Claude Mythos Output Pricing

75-150$ per 1M tokens

rumored range

Claude Mythos model output tokens

Claude Opus 4.6 Input Pricing

4.6$ per 1M tokens

current

Claude model input tokens

Claude Opus 4.6 Output Pricing

25$ per 1M tokens

current

Claude model output tokens

GPT-4.5 Input Pricing

2$ per 1M tokens

rumored

GPT-4.5 model input tokens

GPT-4.5 Output Pricing

8$ per 1M tokens

rumored

GPT-4.5 model output tokens

Mythos Price Premium over Opus

5-6xmultiple

estimated

Inference pricing comparison

OpenAI Annualized Revenue

25billion USD

point-in-time

February 2026

OpenAI Revenue Growth Rate

17%

two-month period

December 2025 to February 2026

Token Price Reduction

10-20xmultiple

range

AI token costs over past 18 months