OpenAI, Anthropic IPOs: Token Payments Under Scrutiny

OpenAI and Anthropic are speeding toward initial public offerings, but their token payment models are facing growing scrutiny. Anthropic is valued at $965 billion and may debut as early as October, with OpenAI, valued at $852 billion, likely to follow in 2027. What's interesting is that enterprise customers are questioning the high cost of pay-per-use token consumption. Palantir CEO Alex Karp criticized this model, saying "something has gone completely wrong." Companies like Uber, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Meta are now rationing employee use of advanced AI because the token payment structure has proven too expensive. The bottom line is that cheaper, open-weight models, including those from China, are gaining ground. This could impact the future revenue of leading US AI labs.