The new AI calculus: Google’s 80% cost edge vs. OpenAI’s ecosystem
1 min read
Summary
AI is seemingly always in the news, from large language models like ChatGPT
to cutting-edge reasoning models.
Much of the focus is on model capabilities, which are important, but sometimes the most critical factors are underlying business decisions and strategies that decide things like cost and reliability.
Two key companies powering the latest wave of generative AI are Google and OpenAI, with Microsoft powering OpenAI’s efforts.
Google has invested heavily in custom silicon to power its models, which gives it a clear economic advantage, as these custom chips are much cheaper to use than the market-dominant GPUs that OpenAI uses, incurring a major markup and thus higher costs.
Beyond these differences, both platforms have different strategies for how AI agents are built and deployed and how they integrate with various services.
For enterprises, choosing the right platform comes down to more than just model comparisons and requires looking at many factors to make the best choice.