a16z: token prices down 67% since May, but token spend up 120%
Scobleizer · x · 2026-11-01
- a16z's Charts of the Week: since May, average token prices have dropped 67% while token spend is up more than 120% — cheaper tokens don't mean cheaper bills, a textbook Jevons paradox.
- Scoble calls it basic supply and demand with effectively infinite software demand: having agents read 100,000 X posts a day was unaffordable before this year; now he runs agents doing exactly that.
- The same charts show AI job-loss FUD fading: Microsoft offered buyouts to 60,000 employees (a quarter of its workforce, worth $10B if fully taken) without blaming AI; explicit AI-related layoff announcements hit yearly lows in August-September, and Indeed data shows SWE, manufacturing and engineering postings still trending up.
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