OpenAI and Anthropic Cut AI Model Costs as Safety Slowdown Debate Intensifies

OpenAI and Anthropic have pushed a new round of high-end AI capability down the price curve, releasing cheaper models and price cuts just days after renewed calls to slow frontier development for safety. The moves sharpen a central tension in the AI business: labs say the most powerful systems need more careful pacing, while customers are demanding lower-cost agents that can do more work per dollar.