What GenAI Actually Costs in Production (opens in new tab)

The first number anyone quotes when asked what generative AI costs is a per-token figure. It is a comfortable number — small, unambiguous, available on a vendor's pricing page, and easy to multiply by an estimated request volume to produce a monthly total. It is also, on inspection of any actual production deployment, the smaller piece of what the company is paying. I want to take that number seriously, then take it apart. The per-token bill is real. It is also the visible tip of a stack whos...