GENERAL19 Sept 2026
The price of AI is falling; why are enterprises still spending more? Explained
Running artificial intelligence (AI) is getting much cheaper per token, yet companies are spending more. Coforge says token unit cost fell about 100-fold in seven months while consumption grew about 8,000-fold. Open-weight models now make up about 35% of token use. Businesses are moving from simple chatbots to complex, multi-step work, so total bills still rise. Judge AI by cost per completed task, not token price.
Key Statutory Highlights
- Coforge said the unit cost of tokens needed to deliver the same level of AI intelligence fell about 100-fold over seven months, while token consumption grew about 8,000-fold.
- Open-weight models accounted for about 35% of token consumption on the platforms Coforge was observing, compared with about 11-12% in early 2025.
- Stanford's 2025 AI Index found the cost of querying a model with GPT-3.5-level performance fell from $20 per million tokens in November 2022 to $0.07 per million tokens by October 2024.
Actionable Advice for Taxpayers / Founders:Review what each AI tool costs you per completed piece of work, not per token, and check whether open-weight models could fit your workloads before renewing costly subscriptions.
Statutory Disclaimer: TaxQue Shorts are AI-assisted editorial briefs for compliance awareness. This brief has not passed every source check; confirm the original notification before acting. This does not constitute formal legal or CA counsel.
TaxQue News Desk
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