{
  "id": 9323555,
  "title": "The Price of Intelligence is Falling Rapidly",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/the-price-of-intelligence-is-falling-rapidly",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-23T11:17:32.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Marginal Revolution",
    "slug": "marginal-revolution",
    "url": "https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/09/the-price-of-intelligence-is-falling.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "According to a groundbreaking report by Emberson and Roodman, the cost of achieving a specific level of artificial intelligence (AI) performance has plummeted an average of 47% per quarter over the past three years. This remarkable decline translates to a staggering 13-fold reduction in cost each year – a rate unmatched by any other transformative technology in history.\n\nTo illustrate the magnitude of this change, consider the example of OpenAI's O3 model. In January 2025, achieving 75% on the GPQA Diamond benchmark cost approximately $0.30 per question. Fast forward to mid-2026, and GPT-5.6 Luna, a more advanced model, delivered the same score at a mere $0.0004 per question – a decline of roughly 725-fold within just 18 months.\n\nThe report emphasizes that this descent in cost is not solely due to the models becoming smarter. While the performance enhancements are undeniable, the report highlights that AI systems are simultaneously becoming far more cost-effective to operate. This convergence of increased intelligence and reduced inference expenses is reshaping the AI landscape, with frontier models not only outperforming their predecessors but also becoming increasingly affordable to run at any given level of performance.",
  "summary": "An amazing Epoch AI report from Emberson and Roodman: Over the past three years, the cost of a given level of AI performance has fallen an average of some 47% per quarter. That is a 13-fold drop every year – a faster rate than any other transformative technology in history. To give an example, OpenAI […] The post The Price of Intelligence is Falling Rapidly appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION .",
  "key_points": [
    "AI performance costs dropped 47% per quarter over three years.",
    "OpenAI's O3 model achieved 75% GPQA Diamond benchmark in 2025 for $0.30.",
    "GPT-5.6 Luna delivered same score in 2026 for $0.0004, 725-fold cheaper."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}