Claude, cheaper. Anthropic released Claude Opus 5.5 on September 22: Fable 5.1 level work at 40% less to run than Opus 5, with token prices at $4 in and $20 out per million and cache reads down 60%.
What we would do: move one workflow you were rationing on cost, a client report or a landing page draft, up to the premium model this week and see what changes.
ChatGPT, half price. Ninety minutes later OpenAI introduced GPT-6 Sol and Luna: API prices 50% below GPT-5.6 promotional pricing, Sol at $2 in and $10 out per million, Luna at $0.10 and $0.50.
What we would do: treat your AI subscription as a variable cost you renegotiate every quarter, not a fixed one.
Meta, the concierge. Reuters reported that Meta tested human contractors quietly placing some of Muse’s phone calls, then rolled it back after an internal post called the missing disclosures “a miss.”
What we would do: if any part of your business puts AI in the room, write the one sentence that says when a human is actually doing the work, before a customer has to ask.
Plus SpaceXAI’s Grok Bot absorbing a 175% support ticket spike without a hire, in the full edition: https://miningwells.com/ai-news/claude-chatgpt-price-war-muse-human-backup