AI API Pricing: The Hidden Dimension

English: This question strikes at the core of current AI pricing models. The answer lies in the variable that everyone is afraid to touch.

a Dimension 所有大模型 API 的报价单长这样：/ Here is what standard AI API price sheets look like: 模型 (Model) 输入 (Input $/M) 输出 (Output $/M) DeepSeek V4 $0.27 $1.10 GPT-4o $2.50 $10.00 Claude Opus $15.00 $75.00

This formula is Price = Token Count × Unit Price. It completely ignores time.

By pricing based on token volume, AI companies are essentially hiding computing costs within the average value of token pricing. 三、为什么没有价格区别？ / Why Is There No Price Differentiation?

Pricing power rests with model companies, not compute providers. This is effectively cost fraud, where simple queries subsidize complex reasoning. 四、TEX 怎么破这个局？ / How TEX Breaks the Deadlock

KAI.com’s pricing introduces the time dimension: Tokens × Time × Unit Price . 五、更深一层 / Deeper Insights

All incumbents (model companies, tech giants, H100 owners) resist time-based pricing because it would expose the arbitrage they exploit from compute suppliers. 总结 / Conclusion

The moment time is written into the bill, all APIs that don’t price by time will become a joke.