The token bill comes due: Inside the industry scramble to manage AI’s runaway costs

# The Token Bill Comes Due AI companies spent the last few years racing to build bigger and faster AI systems without worrying much about costs, but that free-spending approach is now hitting a wall—the bill for running these systems is getting so expensive that companies are finally asking how to make them more affordable and efficient. Think of it like a startup that burned through cash without a budget; eventually reality catches up and you have to start making harder choices about what you actually need versus what's nice to have.