# Why the Rise of Open Source AI Isn't Hurting Anthropic Yet

> This TechCrunch analysis tackles a puzzle: open-source models like DeepSeek are dramatically cheaper, so why has that not dented Anthropic's business. The price gap is not subtle. The piece cites DeepSeek at around $0.06 per million tokens against roughly $1.37 for Anthropic's Opus, and DeepSeek processing 5.3 trillion tokens a week to Opus's 2 trillion. The answer it offers is that frontier and open-source models are not really competing in the same moment. Frontier labs establish new capabilities and use cases, and open-source models commoditize them a phase later. That lets Anthropic keep more than half of enterprise AI spending even after raising prices, because companies pay a premium to be at the edge of what is possible. It is a useful frame because it complicates the popular story that cheap open models will inevitably eat the incumbents. The argument is that the two coexist, with the frontier constantly moving, though it also implies Anthropic's lead lasts only as long as it keeps defining what comes next.

_Section: [Interesting AI Articles](https://www.wortins.com/articles) · Source: TechCrunch · Published Monday, July 13, 2026_

## Wortins' read

This TechCrunch analysis tackles a puzzle: open-source models like DeepSeek are dramatically cheaper, so why has that not dented Anthropic's business. The price gap is not subtle. The piece cites DeepSeek at around $0.06 per million tokens against roughly $1.37 for Anthropic's Opus, and DeepSeek processing 5.3 trillion tokens a week to Opus's 2 trillion. The answer it offers is that frontier and open-source models are not really competing in the same moment. Frontier labs establish new capabilities and use cases, and open-source models commoditize them a phase later. That lets Anthropic keep more than half of enterprise AI spending even after raising prices, because companies pay a premium to be at the edge of what is possible. It is a useful frame because it complicates the popular story that cheap open models will inevitably eat the incumbents. The argument is that the two coexist, with the frontier constantly moving, though it also implies Anthropic's lead lasts only as long as it keeps defining what comes next.

## Source

[Read the full story at TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/07/why-the-rise-of-open-source-ai-isnt-hurting-anthropic-yet/)

## Related coverage

- [Top AI spenders cut per-employee costs by nearly 10 percent in August](https://www.wortins.com/story/top-ai-spenders-cut-per-employee-costs-by-nearly-10-percent--b31ffb0b) — [The Decoder](https://the-decoder.com/top-ai-spenders-cut-per-employee-costs-by-nearly-10-percent-in-august/)
- [Powering AI is an architecture problem](https://www.wortins.com/story/powering-ai-is-an-architecture-problem-15281f16) — [MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/10/1141649/powering-ai-is-an-architecture-problem/)
- [AI CRM software startup Lightfield raised a $47M Series A led by a16z; formerly Tome, it had raised $80M across earlier Series A and B rounds (Alex Konrad/Upstarts Media)](https://www.wortins.com/story/ai-crm-software-startup-lightfield-raised-a-47m-series-a-led-1a4414f8) — [Techmeme](https://www.techmeme.com/260909/p23#a260909p23)
- [Sequoia doubles down on Cymphony as AI agents create new enterprise security risks](https://www.wortins.com/story/sequoia-doubles-down-on-cymphony-as-ai-agents-create-new-ent-e2ff7229) — [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/09/sequoia-doubles-down-on-cymphony-as-ai-agents-create-new-enterprise-security-risks/)
- [Google Earth’s AI experiment lasted 24 hours. The damage to trust will linger](https://www.wortins.com/story/google-earth-s-ai-experiment-lasted-24-hours-the-damage-to-t-4b725457) — [Rest of World](https://restofworld.org/2026/google-earth-ai-deepfake-iran-war/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feeds)
- [A look at why the oft-discussed predictions that AI will deliver double-digit GDP growth in advanced economies are extremely unlikely over the next 10-15 years (Ghosts of Electricity)](https://www.wortins.com/story/a-look-at-why-the-oft-discussed-predictions-that-ai-will-del-6241fa38) — [Techmeme](https://www.techmeme.com/260910/p10#a260910p10)

---

_Curated and written by [Wortins](https://www.wortins.com) — The daily AI briefing. Every story links to its original source; the "Wortins read" on each is our own original analysis. [About Wortins & our editorial approach](https://www.wortins.com/about)._