Will AI tokens become irrelevant? OpenAI Chairman says yes, within a year
Follow UsMany businesses are closely monitoring how much they spend on AI, especially when it comes to tokens.
OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor believes this will soon change.
According to Taylor, the AI industry is similar to the early days of the internet.
Many businesses are closely monitoring how much they spend on AI, especially when it comes to tokens. However, OpenAI board chairman Bret Taylor believes this will soon change. Speaking to CNBC, Taylor said companies are unlikely to focus on AI tokens a year from now. Tokens are small units of text that AI models process. They are also used to calculate how much companies pay for AI services. Earlier this year, rising token costs pushed many businesses to review their AI spending and check whether they were getting enough value from their investments.
Survey“I believe where the world is going is paying for outcomes,” Taylor said, echoing the view of other executives who are now prioritising ROI.
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According to Taylor, the AI industry is similar to the early days of the internet. At that time, building a website was much more expensive than it is today. “We’re just in the early stages of the technology, and I think it’s a call for entrepreneurs to develop solutions so businesses don’t need to deal with this stuff,” Taylor said.
Taylor said more companies are already building tools that handle token management automatically. He pointed to Ramp’s token spending tool and legal AI startup Harvey as examples of businesses that manage tokens on behalf of their customers.
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He also expects companies to use different AI tools for different teams based on their needs. “I think if you fast-forward 12 months from now, IT departments will be really sophisticated about the industrial applications of AI,” Taylor said. “For your marketing department, you might have one thing. For your software engineers, another thing.”
“So you just don’t need to think about the word token at all,” he added.
AI costs are expected to fall as models become more efficient. Chinese AI startup Moonshot recently introduced its Kimi K3 model, which attracted attention for offering performance similar to leading AI models at a lower cost.
“‘Is it cheaper to use’ is the most important part for anyone considering it,” Taylor said. “And I think the jury’s out on that.”
