LLM Token Index: Hits New All-Time Low at 97 Cents

LLM Token Expenditure Index from Silicon Data dropped to 97 cents on Monday, its lowest reading since launch late last year and more than half below the summer high. Trevor Noren noted the decline leaves frontier labs without a clear route to profitability absent pricing power, as token deflation squeezes revenue while compute costs remain fixed. Four years after ChatGPT launched, with trillions committed by hyperscalers, the index underscores ongoing commoditization pressure that has pushed big tech capital intensity to three times typical US industrial levels.