Openai Slashes GPT-5.6 Luna Prices by 80% Amid Competition

WHO:

VentureBeat - OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman announced the price cuts.

WHAT:

VentureBeat - OpenAI is adding a premium Fast mode for its flagship GPT-5.6 Sol model, priced at $10 per million input tokens and $60 per million output tokens, which delivers up to 2.5 times the throughput without changing the model’s underlying intelligence.

VentureBeat - The pricing for Sol Standard remains unchanged at $5 per million input tokens and $30 per million output tokens.

CNBC - OpenAI launched three models as part of its GPT-5.6 series: Sol, Terra, and Luna, with Sol being the most powerful offering.

VentureBeat - OpenAI is cutting the price of GPT-5.6 Luna by 80% and GPT-5.6 Terra by 20%.

VentureBeat - The new price for Luna will be $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens, totaling $1.40 per million tokens.

VentureBeat - The new price for Terra will be $2 per million input tokens and $12 per million output tokens, totaling $14 per million tokens.

Techmeme - OpenAI stated that the price cuts follow improvements in the efficiency of the systems that serve these models.

WHERE:

VentureBeat - The pricing changes are part of OpenAI's offerings in the AI model market.

WHEN:

VentureBeat - The pricing changes were announced shortly after Anthropic released its Claude Opus 5 and Google introduced its Gemini models.

WHY:

CNBC - OpenAI is responding to pressure from a more cost-sensitive customer base, as enterprises are less inclined to deploy expensive models without a clear return on investment.

VentureBeat - The price cuts are intended to position OpenAI's models more competitively against Google and Anthropic, which have introduced lower-cost models.

HOW:

VentureBeat - OpenAI improved the efficiency of the systems that serve the GPT-5.6 models, enabling the price reductions.

(UPDATED July 31, 2026 01:33 UTC)

OpenAI has introduced a premium Fast mode for its most powerful GPT-5.6 Sol model, which will cost $10 per million input tokens and $60 per million output tokens, providing up to 2.5 times the throughput while maintaining the same underlying intelligence. The pricing for the standard Sol model remains unchanged at $5 per million input tokens and $30 per million output tokens. This move comes as OpenAI responds to a more cost-sensitive customer base, with enterprises seeking clearer returns on investment before deploying expensive models.

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(UPDATED July 30, 2026 23:23 UTC)

OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman has announced significant price cuts for the company's GPT-5.6 models, with Luna seeing an 80% reduction and Terra a 20% reduction. The new pricing sets Luna at $1.40 per million tokens and Terra at $14 per million tokens, reflecting improvements in the efficiency of the systems that support these models. These changes come as OpenAI aims to enhance its competitive position against Google and Anthropic, who have recently launched their own lower-cost offerings.