Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic pursue divergent AI pricing strategies as capex spending sets records

Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro costs $2.00 per 1M input tokens and $12.00 per 1M output tokens; OpenAI's GPT-5.5 costs $5.00 per 1M input and $30.00 per 1M output; Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.7 costs $5.00 per 1M input and $25.00 per 1M output.

Google has tripled its AI price each year but remains the low-cost player at less than half the competition. Anthropic maintained higher pricing until late last year, while OpenAI's flagship model was initially subsidized before rising again.

The three vendors employ different strategies: price cuts when cash is plentiful and market share matters, price increases when cash is tight and margins matter. All three are now prioritizing margins as capex spending continues to set records.