AI labs are cutting model costs - and it could help them slow down safely

AxiosSeptember 23, 2026en

The shift of the AI frontier toward more powerful, lower-cost models could pave the way for safely slowing development, experts say. Why it matters: Top U.S. startups including OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as other AI players, have to develop a financially viable path to allow them to slow development. Otherwise financial incentives will be too powerful . Driving the news : The health of the entire U.S. economy now rests in part on the AI boom. Yet the companies at the center of the race are burning far more cash than they take in, and will be for the foreseeable future. Their top executives have also shown unusual solidarity in expressing a desire to slow the pace of model development due

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• OpenAI
• Anthropic