AI Just Got 99.7% Cheaper. Who Profits?

In late 2022, getting a decent answer out of an AI model cost about $20 for every million tokens it processed. By late 2024, getting that same quality of answer cost seven cents, according to Stanford’s AI Index.

That’s a 99.7% collapse in price.

I want you to chew on that number for a second. Because the cost of AI compute continues to get even cheaper.

I’ve followed technology cycles across four separate decades of covering the markets. I watched the PC revolution unfold, the internet buildout, smartphones go from luxury devices to something in every pocket, and flat-screen TVs collapse in price year after year.

But I’ve never seen a major technology fall in price this fast.

If intelligence is this cheap to buy... who’s still getting rich selling it?

Four Layers, One Story