{"id":111967,"date":"2026-07-20T13:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/111967\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T13:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:53:15","slug":"openai-chair-downplays-lower-token-costs-of-open-weight-models-after-kimi-k3-buzz-frontier-models-are-much-more-token-efficient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/111967\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI Chair Downplays Lower Token Costs Of Open-Weight Models After Kimi K3 Buzz: ‘Frontier Models Are Much More Token Efficient’"},"content":{"rendered":"

During an interview with CNBC, Bret Taylor said that everyday use of frontier models shows they have a significant advantage over open-weight models.\n<\/p>\n

Taylor said that not every token is equal; what also matters is how well the models are coded to deliver the responses users are looking for.He added that it does not matter how cheaply open-weight models can be trained; what matters is how efficient they are for end users.Taylor also downplayed concerns about the use of AI models delivering adequate returns on investment.<\/p>\n

OpenAI Chairman Bret Taylor on Monday downplayed the cost advantage that open-weight models offer users, saying that token efficiency matters more.<\/p>\n

During an interview with CNBC, Taylor said that everyday use of frontier models shows they have a significant advantage over open-weight models in terms of efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cToken efficiency, compute efficiency, is something that I think the frontier labs are exceptional [at],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Not Every Token Is Equal, Says Taylor<\/p>\n

Taylor said that not every token is equal; what also matters is how well the models are coded to deliver the responses users are looking for.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve used a really advanced model like [GPT] 5.6 from OpenAI, you\u2019ll know, \u2018actually, wow, they\u2019re coded right,\u2019 so it\u2019s a lot better than the previous model,\u201d he said, while touting OpenAI as well as rival Anthropic\u2019s models over the wave of open-weight models coming from China.<\/p>\n

Taylor added that it does not matter how cheaply open-weight models can be trained; what matters is how efficient they are for end users.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it’s going to be how efficient your inference is. And I think the frontier labs are still far ahead here, and that’s really where the value is going to accrue,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0data<\/a> from Artificial Analysis, Kimi K3 costs $0.95 per Intelligence Index Task, while OpenAI\u2019s GPT 5.6 Sol (max) costs $1.04, and Anthropic\u2019s Claude Fable 5 (with fallback) costs $2.75.<\/p>\n

\"CostSource: Artificial AnalysisTaylor Downplays ROI Concerns From AI Model Use<\/p>\n

Taylor also downplayed concerns about AI models delivering adequate returns on investment, saying he believes the world is moving toward paying for outcomes rather than focusing on token costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, we made AI agents that help companies drive revenue and drive customer service. But our customers don\u2019t pay per token,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Taylor also touted the services of his startup, Sierra, which provides customer service solutions to businesses. He said that businesses pay the company on a per-outcome basis, which in Sierra\u2019s case is loan origination or pre-authorization for medical procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you’re an insurance company and you’re doing actuary work, you want it to be great. I think the U.S. labs need… for every price, performance, latency cost… they need to have the best model available. I think that’s more likely than not, because it turns out that just having open weights isn’t actually the main thing driving many of those costs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Kimi K3 Launch Has The Internet Buzzing<\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s comments come after Chinese AI model developer Moonshot AI launched the Kimi K3 model, taking the internet by storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile its overall performance still trails the most powerful proprietary models, Claude Fable 5 and GPT 5.6 Sol, Kimi K3 demonstrated frontier-level performance across our evaluation suite, consistently outperforming other tested models,\u201d the company said in its announcement.<\/p>\n

Moonshot touted that Kimi K3 is the world\u2019s first open-weight model to reach 2.8 trillion parameters.<\/p>\n

OpenAI\u2019s Head of Strategic Futures, Dean W Ball, praised Kimi K3 as a \u201cvery good model\u201d in a\u00a0post<\/a> on X, while expressing surprise that the Chinese government is allowing models like these to be open-sourced.<\/p>\n

The iShares U.S. Technology ETF (IYW) is up 34% year-to-date, while the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) is up 32%.<\/p>\n

Also See:\u00a0AMC Delivers Biggest Quarter In 106-Year History \u2013 Adam Aron Says Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey, Avengers And Dune Can Extend Momentum<\/a><\/p>\n

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Read about our editorial guidelines and ethics policy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During an interview with CNBC, Bret Taylor said that everyday use of frontier models shows they have a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1276,11373,57488,56012,9603,57489,47057,157],"class_list":["post-111967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-openai","tag-ai-models","tag-bret-taylor","tag-kimi-ai-model","tag-kimi-k3","tag-moonshot-ai","tag-open-gpt-5-6","tag-open-weight-models","tag-openai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}