Subsidy becomes strategy, then trap

• Anthropic cut Claude Opus pricing 67% at the Opus 4.5 launch (Nov 2025). OpenAI offers Flex processing at 50% off.
• Open-source models are emerging as cheap alternatives; Microsoft, Amazon and Google are pivoting enterprise offerings toward efficiency.
• D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria: enterprise customers may start limiting their out-of-control token spend.
• The result: price cuts to defend share, right as the biggest buyers tighten budgets — margin compression straight into trillion-dollar IPOs.