OpenAI Is Taking the “Crack Cocaine” Approach to Pricing
“They’ve kind of taken the crack approach to AI. Give it to people for free, get them hooked, then jack up prices.”
Published Jun 16, 2026 3:04 PM EDT
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OpenAI burned through a staggering amount of money in 2025.
According to audited financial figures obtained by AI skeptic Ed Zitron, who shared them with The Financial Times, the net loss attributed to the ChatGPT maker soared from $5 billion in 2024 to a stunning $39 billion in 2025.
You can relitigate the numbers all day — a source familiar with situation told the FT that a lot of those 2025 losses are a “non-cash accounting charge linked to the company’s previous structure rather than its underlying operations — but the financial pressure does seem to be taking a toll. After years of giving users largely unfettered access to its models for a monthly fee, OpenAI and many of its competitors are now debating whether to boost prices dramatically by transitioning to a token-based billing system, charging users more directly for the amount of computing power they consume instead of an open-ended monthly subscription.
OpenAI currently offers both pay-as-you-go API access and monthly ChatGPT subscriptions. But how long the latter will stick around is looking increasingly uncertain. Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman argued that “we see a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”
In other words, OpenAI’s behavior sounds an awful lot like a drug dealer who floods the market with addictive drugs, then jacks up the prices once users are dependent on them.
“They’ve kind of taken the crack approach to AI,” one Reddit user argued. “Give it to people for free, get them hooked, then jack up prices.”
It’s an insightful metaphor, considering where the majority of the AI industry’s biggest players appear to be headed. And as the costs of building out data centers and maintaining access to cloud compute come due, it’s likely we’ll see even more similar behavior.
The real costs behind AI subscriptions are staggering. According to a recent report by research company SemiAnalaysis, a $200 ChatGPT Pro subscription costs OpenAI as much as $14,000 if used to its maximum potential.
Spiking API prices have caught some power users off guard. According to Axios, an unnamed firm’s CFO accidentally racked up half a billion dollars in Claude usage fees in a single month.
The financial reality is hard to ignore, with CEOs starting to reverse course on AI adoption as prices for access to the tools spiral out of control.
“Fundamentally all of these AI providers are massively subsidizing token usage on these flat rate plans,” another Reddit user wrote. “It’s simply unsustainable.”
Even with soaring token-based API pricing, AI companies’ balance sheets are firmly in the red. And they could stay there, especially considering the burgeoning AI price war that could force them to lower — not raise — prices just to stay competitive.
More on OpenAI: OpenAI Execs Are Panicking
Victor Tangermann
Senior Editor
I’m a senior editor at Futurism, where I edit and write about NASA and the private space sector, as well as topics ranging from SETI and artificial intelligence to tech and medical policy.
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