Google, OpenAI Undercut on Price; Mistral Licenses Its Hosts
On 28 October, Google said that Gemini 4 Carbon will launch at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Based on our calculations, this is half the listed price of Claude Opus 5.5. Two days earlier, OpenAI said that GPT-6.1 Terra matches GPT-6 Astra on one test while costing one-tenth as much per token.
On 29 October, Mistral AI released the weights of its Mistral Large 4, a model with 1 trillion parameters. But its licence says that anyone running a “Model as a Service business” must sign a separate commercial licence with Mistral before using the model for any commercial purpose.
The key insight: Looking at these developments together, Google and OpenAI have priced their closed models below Opus 5.5 and Astra, based on our calculations. Mistral, meanwhile, has made its model weights available but added a licensing condition for businesses that host the model.
Google Prices Its Top Model at Half of Opus
According to Google's blog post, Carbon ranks first on version 5.0 of the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, with a score of 59. Google says it will first give Carbon to a small group of cybersecurity defenders. After that, it will gradually give access to more trusted partners through its Fairwind Program.
Google says Carbon will launch at the same introductory price as Argon: $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Anthropic's pricing page lists Claude Opus 5.5 at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens.
OpenAI Says Terra Matches Astra on One Test at a Tenth of the Price
In a post on X, OpenAI said that GPT-6.1 Terra “even matches GPT-6 Astra at one-tenth the price per token” on Agents' Last Exam. OpenAI describes this test as a way to measure how well AI agents use software to do work.
OpenAI's API pricing page lists GPT-6.1 Terra at $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens on its standard plan. The same page lists GPT-6 Astra at $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens.
Mistral Opens the Weights but Requires a Licence for Hosting
In its announcement, Mistral said: “Today, we're releasing the weights of this improved Mistral Large 4.” It also said developers can run the model on their own computer systems and infrastructure.
However, the licence on Hugging Face adds a condition for a particular type of user. If someone using the licence runs a “Model as a Service business”, they “must enter into a separate commercial license with Mistral before using the Model or its derivative works for any commercial purpose”.
The Business Difference: Price per Token and Licences for Hosting
These three moves affect different parts of the AI business. Google has priced Carbon below Opus 5.5. OpenAI has priced Terra below Astra. Both companies are offering closed models. Mistral has released its model weights but requires businesses that meet its definition of a Model as a Service business to sign a separate commercial licence.
Putting the listed output prices in order, GPT-6 Astra costs $50 per million tokens, Opus 5.5 costs $20, Carbon costs $10 and Terra costs $5. These figures are based on our calculations using the three pricing sources.
What These Moves Mean
Based on our reading of Google's announcement, its highest-ranked model will first be given to cybersecurity defenders. Its launch price will be half the listed price of Opus 5.5, based on our calculations.
Based on our reading of OpenAI's announcement and its pricing page, Terra is listed at one-tenth of Astra's price, even though OpenAI says the two models achieve the same result on one test.
Based on our reading of Mistral's licence, developers can access the model weights, but businesses that run a Model as a Service must sign a separate commercial licence.
Mistral Large 4 licence, Hugging Face
“the Licensee must enter into a separate commercial license with Mistral before using the Model or its derivative works for any commercial purpose”
Three Things to Consider
FOR BUYERS OpenAI lists GPT-6.1 Terra at $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens. GPT-6 Astra costs $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens.
FOR HOSTING BUSINESSES Mistral's licence requires businesses that run a Model as a Service to sign a separate commercial licence. The documents we reviewed do not say how much this licence costs.
FOR ANTHROPIC Google says Carbon will launch at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Anthropic lists Opus 5.5 at $4 and $20, respectively.
The Business Engineer View
This story can be understood using the Business Engineer framework called The Open vs Closed Meta-Framework.
The framework says: “Keep the SCARCE layer closed (and under your control) + Open the ABUNDANT layer (so it becomes a widely available, low-cost resource).”
In our view, Google and OpenAI have kept Carbon and Terra closed while pricing them below Opus 5.5 and Astra. Mistral has made its model weights available but added a commercial licence requirement for businesses that host the model. This is one way to apply the framework. The framework is the owner's own argument and does not discuss these specific launches.
What Has Not Been Confirmed
Google has not made Carbon available to everyone. Its prices of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens are introductory launch prices. OpenAI's claim that Terra matches Astra applies to only one test: Agents' Last Exam. The Mistral documents we reviewed do not state the price of the separate commercial licence.
The Bottom Line
In one week, Google priced its highest-ranked model at half the price of Opus 5.5. OpenAI said Terra matches Astra on one test while costing one-tenth as much. Meanwhile, Mistral released the weights of Large 4 but requires businesses that host the model to sign a commercial licence.
A note about sources: All facts and figures come from Google's blog post dated 28 October, OpenAI's post on X dated 26 October and its API pricing page, Anthropic's pricing page, and Mistral AI's announcement and licence dated 29 October. These documents were reviewed on 31 October 2026. We calculated the price comparisons ourselves. We did not contact the companies.
Sources: Google: Gemini 4 Carbon · OpenAI on X: GPT-6.1 Terra · OpenAI API pricing · Anthropic pricing · Mistral AI: Large 4 weights · Mistral Large 4 licence