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divyvasal
A 17x subsidy is crazy. It really highlights the hidden cost of context window re-evaluation in agent loops.
sibidharan
You mean if I use 2x $200 Max fully every week, I actually consume ~$5000 worth of API usage ?? Wow!!!
dnnddidiej
Subsidy? Sound more like raw API is just expensive.
l2s0
I agree with this, until we have actual info about how much is the API going to cost for the big lab, I wouldn't call it subsidy
Hiteshjain118
I think we would know the costs when they go public. Before that may have infer costs through various signals.
kpratik16
Interesting analysis that most token cost is due to re-reading the same context.
photonair
Does this mean Claude Code $200 plan is really costing them more to run it especially for power users or they are just ripping off people with API usage? If they are just subsidizing for the $200 plan, is it just a land grab for now? and then raise prices later?
Alex_toani
I've been read reports which suggesting that the major AI model companies aren't particularly profitable. The ones actually making money are those selling servers and providing power infrastructure. The bulk of these companies' revenue flows straight to those costs, leaving slim profit margins. That's to say nothing of services like Claude and ChatGPT with their subscription tiers — unless, of course, they happen to land a customer who pays $200 a month and barely touches the product.
vagrantJin
Dubious at best. When you remember that there are open models with performance just as good as Sonnet that cost $2.50/M - $5/M output tokens. They don't have magically cheaper energy or compute costs. Anthropic premium pricing the API is just vibes. Like Starbucks. Like Lululemon. Like Apple.