0
Applied AI·September 21, 2026·1 min read

AI model costs are pushing startups towards cheaper open weigh

Share

Harvey swinging from +50% to -50% gross margin before rescuing economics with an in-house model on Moonshot’s Kimi K3 is the new AI startup cautionary tale—API costs can erase your business overnight. If your unit economics depend on closed-model APIs, you need an explicit path to open weights, custom models, or hybrid serving this quarter.