GoKawiilHacker News debate questions why OpenAI and Anthropic sell AI tokens instead of building products
A discussion thread on Hacker News raises the question of why leading AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic primarily sell model access as tokens rather than using their own frontier models to build and launch consumer or enterprise products directly. The poster argues that as token prices fall due to commodification, more profit potential may lie in building applications on top of models rather than selling raw model access.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
This is a user-generated discussion rather than a company announcement, but it reflects a broader industry debate about the long-term business model for foundation model providers. If commodification continues to compress margins on raw API access, labs could face pressure to move up the stack into applications, potentially competing with their own customers who build products on their APIs.
- The post questions whether selling model access as tokens is the optimal monetization strategy for AI labs
- It suggests that declining prices for raw model access could push more value toward application-layer products
- The discussion highlights tension between AI labs as infrastructure providers versus potential competitors to their customers
Source: news.ycombinator.com, 2026-10-22
Published there as: “Ask HN: If the models are so good, why doesn't OpenAI just start 100 companies?”
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