The IPO Math Forces the Issue
Both OpenAI and Anthropic are on IPO timelines for the second half of 2026. OpenAI completed the largest private funding round in history in April, $122 billion at an $852 billion post-money valuation. Anthropic has reportedly surpassed $30 billion in annualized revenue. Massive numbers, both of them. Also both attached to companies that are still burning cash at extraordinary rates.
Public markets will not tolerate the gap between subscription revenue and compute cost that has defined the past three years. The moment either company files, analysts will demand unit economics that show a path to margin. Usage-based billing is the fastest way to demonstrate that path.
None of this contradicts the repricing thesis. The pricing war is the last land grab before the gate closes. Both companies are spending aggressively now to lock in users whose switching costs will make them sticky when prices rise. OpenAI offers two months free. Anthropic offers 50% more capacity. Both expire in July. What comes after July is the real pricing.
According to Ed Zitron, AWS cost about $52 billion between 2003 and 2017 (adjusted for inflation), and became profitable after that. OpenAI did 13 funding rounds at a total of $180 billion and the signs are that they are burning through that capital at an accelerated pace and nowhere near profitable. The scale isn't quite the same
https://www.wheresyoured.at/premium-ai-isnt-too-big-to-fail/