Where your $20 Claude subscription goes: an interactive AI value-chain explainer
aishashok14 · x · 2026-10-22
Tenex built an interactive explainer tracing a single prompt through every layer of the AI value chain, accounting for every cent of a $20/month subscription:
- Typing the prompt (5 tokens, plus thousands of system-prompt tokens): $0
- Anthropic keeps 65% ($13.00) to fund next-model training, research and people
- Fiber transit: $0.02, 40ms round trip
- GPU rental: $2.48
- Cooling: $0.84 — a 72-GPU AI rack draws 120–140 kW, roughly 100 US homes, nearly all turned into heat
- Claude "thinking": $0
Ten steps in total, with nine deep dives covering tokens, Claude's economics, fiber, GPUs, chips, chip printing and power.
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