Opus 5.5 Price Cuts Undercut 'Cripple the Old' Theory, but 40% Serving-Cost Claim Raises Flags
maier_ak · x · 2026-10-02
The author counters his own earlier framing: Claude Opus 5.5's launch came with broad price cuts on older models (input $5→$4, output $25→$20, cache reads down 60%), which kills the 'deliberately degrade old models to upsell' reading. However, the same launch page's claim of 40% lower running costs reflects serving cost — savings that likely come out of the model's deliberation, which remains worth scrutinizing.
Related event: Opus 5.5 Benchmarks Questioned as Vendor Grades Its Own Homework(3 posts)→
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