Sam Altman: AI Token Costs a "Huge Issue" by 2026

AI token costs are now a major budget concern for companies using AI agents at scale. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, confirms this shift. What's happening is a massive increase in token consumption. OpenAI's top user now burns 100 billion tokens per month. This is a million times more than the top user six and a half years ago. Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, consumes even more, at 603 billion tokens every 30 days. This dramatic increase means AI budgeting has gone from "no one cares" to "we have a problem." Companies deployed always-on AI agents at scale, and what started as a productivity investment is now a significant operating expense. Altman projects another million-fold growth over the next six years. The bottom line is that managing AI token costs is becoming critical for businesses, especially startups and enterprise teams.