Anthropic announced that its flagship model, Claude Fable 5, has captured 11% of corporate AI spend within two months of launch, but the growth has now stalled. The slowdown, identified through payment-processor Ramp data, suggests that firms are reluctant to adopt the latest, costlier AI without clear added value.
Why the pause matters for AI developers
Claude Fable 5 costs $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens, a price point that many enterprises find steep. By contrast, Anthropic's own Claude Opus 5 offers similar performance at half the cost, $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens. The modest uptake indicates that businesses are prioritising cost efficiency over marginal performance gains, a trend that could reshape the business models of frontier AI labs that have historically poured billions into ever larger models.
"If sustained, the shift could radically alter the business model of frontier labs, which have until now funneled the bulk of their multibillion-dollar development spending towards training ever larger, more sophisticated models," notes the Financial Times.
OpenAI, a rival based in San Francisco, appears to have taken note. The company reduced developer pricing for its cutting-edge GPT-5.6 Sol model by 20 per cent, bringing costs down to $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens. This price war may accelerate the adoption of more affordable AI solutions across Europe and beyond.
Apple prepares its own price adjustment
Two months after raising prices on a range of products due to higher memory-chip costs, Apple is reportedly planning a 9 per cent increase for its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, which would push the price to $1,199. Bloomberg reports that the move would help the Cupertino giant offset the ongoing memory crunch while keeping the iPhone, which generates roughly half of Apple's annual revenue, competitively priced against rivals such as Google and Samsung, who have already lifted their flagship prices by about $100.
The company is also revamping its device-leasing scheme, now called Apple Upgrade, which will function as a true lease with lower monthly payments and will no longer bundle AppleCare+. The changes aim to soften the impact of higher upfront costs for consumers.
Political backdrop in the United States
Former President Donald Trump has publicly championed data-centre construction, arguing that towns rejecting such projects miss out on "tremendous amounts of jobs and money". In a recent interview he said, "If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data centre, I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the taxes paid are just enormous."
Opposition to data centres centres on concerns over electricity consumption, water use and local environmental impacts. Recent polls show that greater public awareness of data-centre operations correlates with declining support, a factor that could influence upcoming mid-term elections in 36 U.S. states.
What lies ahead?
For AI developers, the emerging price competition may drive a shift toward more cost-effective models, prompting further innovation in efficiency rather than sheer scale. European firms that rely on AI services are likely to benefit from lower fees, potentially accelerating adoption across sectors such as finance, manufacturing and healthcare.
Apple's price adjustment will be watched closely by European consumers and regulators, especially as the company prepares to unveil a foldable iPhone that could command a price above €2,000. The balance between premium features and price sensitivity will shape market dynamics in the coming months.
In the United States, the debate over data-centre expansion will continue to intersect with political campaigns, with policymakers weighing economic benefits against environmental and community concerns.