OpenAI weighs drastic price cuts to pull users from Anthropic

OpenAI is reportedly considering drastic cuts to the prices it charges for tokens as it tries to claw enterprise customers back from Anthropic, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move would land just as both companies position for public listings, and it raises immediate questions about margins across the AI stack.

What is being considered

Per reporting, OpenAI is considering significant price cuts for its services in anticipation of similar cost reductions from rival Anthropic, weighing various cost changes including reducing the price for tokens, the unit of measurement for AI use, if Anthropic does the same. The deliberations are early and nothing has been decided.

Sam Altman said at a recent event that costs had become a huge issue, adding that the company expects to find ways to help customers get more value for less spend.

Why now: the Anthropic squeeze

OpenAI has been trying to catch up with Anthropic in winning enterprise customers, after Anthropic’s revenue surged on the back of its coding tool and it briefly surpassed OpenAI’s valuation. Claude Code going viral with developers is the catalyst that flipped the script.

Some corporations have begun reining in AI spending after maxing out budgets for agentic AI use, fuelling debate over so-called tokenmaxxing. In other words, demand at current prices is hitting a ceiling.

Do you want to see how to make more plays? Do you want to find gains yourself?

Unusual Whales helps you find market opportunities through our market tide, historical options flow, GEX, and much, much more.

Create a free account here to start conquering the market with Unusual Whales.

The margin problem

Such cuts could erode profit margins at both companies, which already lose significant sums due to the computing costs involved in running AI systems. A token price war is effectively a race to the bottom on a product investors already worry is interchangeable.

Given the interchangeability of their products and how easily enterprise customers can switch providers, any first-mover price cut could force a rapid response, accelerating a broader repricing of AI services.

The IPO backdrop

A price war would test both companies’ business models ahead of expected public listings, with OpenAI having confidentially filed for an IPO this week, following Anthropic, and Altman telling staff the company plans to go public within the next year.

Cutting your headline price right before a roadshow is an unusual flex. It signals that retention, not pricing power, is the priority.

Options market and stocks to watch

OpenAI and Anthropic are private, but a token price war ripples straight through the public AI stack. Watch how flow positions the names tied to compute demand and enterprise AI spend.

• MSFT: Watch for reaction in Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest backer and Azure distribution partner. Lower token prices could pressure Azure AI revenue per query but support volumes.
• GOOGL: Watch Google, which competes directly on Gemini pricing and would likely have to match any meaningful cut.
• NVDA: Watch Nvidia. Cheaper tokens that drive more usage is bullish for inference demand, but margin compression at hyperscalers can slow capex commentary.
• AMZN: Watch AWS exposure via Amazon, given its Anthropic partnership and Bedrock pricing.
• CRM: Watch Salesforce and other enterprise software names where AI cost-per-seat math directly affects gross margin.

Want more market intelligence? Create your free Unusual Whales account for options flow, market tide, GEX, and the full toolkit.