For the last few years, the AI space has been defined by a single truth: OpenAI was ahead. Far ahead. They had the best models, the biggest breakthroughs, and a pricing structure that reflected their dominance. And despite all the advancements in open-source AI and competing models, that still hasn’t changed. GPT-4o remains the best overall model in terms of quality, reasoning ability, and flexibility.
But something else has changed: the cost dynamics of AI are shifting rapidly, and OpenAI is no longer operating in a world where they can price however they want. The industry isn’t just