Framework Diagram
AI Access Pyramid: Cost vs Availability
The paradox: compute gets cheaper, but frontier reasoning keeps consuming more of it. Four tiers define who can access what — and at what cost.
High cost
Low avail.
Low cost
High avail.
→ Increasing scale, efficiency, and openness (drives cost down & availability up)
Why Expensive?
- High compute per task
- Best chips (GPUs / TPUs)
- More memory & bandwidth
- More power & cooling
- Scarce capacity
- High opportunity cost
Why Costly?
- Significant compute required
- Larger models needed
- Paid APIs / services
- Enterprise-grade reliability
Why Affordable?
- More efficient models
- Optimized inference
- Competitive APIs
- Economies of scale
Why Cheap?
- Open source models
- Can run locally
- Low compute needs
- High availability