AI Token Cost Risk: The Ticking Time Bomb
Written by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
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The Subsidy Problem
- OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are losing money on every API call you make; billions in subsidies are keeping your unit economics alive
- Current token pricing is artificially low, designed to drive adoption and market share, not to generate profit
- When the music stops, inference costs could jump 5-10x overnight as providers move toward sustainable pricing
- Most AI startups have not modeled this risk, and the vast majority cannot survive a 10x cost increase
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About the author
Harry PrabandhamFounder & CEO
Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.
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