OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI giants are providing a large amount of free compute credits to startups to gain market share

BlockBeats News, July 7th, according to The Wall Street Journal report, AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic are providing a large amount of free computing power and discounts to startups to compete for corporate clients. The report stated that Silicon Valley startup founders are receiving computing credits, token usage limits, and bid-based discounts from AI model companies, with some early-stage companies receiving cloud computing and token limits totaling over $3 million, close to the median of U.S. seed round funding as per PitchBook.

The AI companies hope to acquire customers at the early stage of startups, making their tools a part of these companies' business as they grow. Cursor previously offered a 75% discount before July 5th; Google Cloud provided up to $500,000 in cloud computing credits to some startups and offered early access to the Gemini model, along with DeepMind engineering support in some cases. Microsoft and Amazon Web Services also offered special benefits to startup companies.

OpenAI and Anthropic have recently focused on Y Combinator startups. In May, Sam Altman announced that OpenAI would provide $2 million in token limits to each startup participating in the accelerator program in exchange for equity. Almost simultaneously, Anthropic increased the free limit provided to YC startups from the previous $30,000 to $500,000, without requiring equity. Subsequently, OpenAI adjusted its plan to offer $500,000 in free limits to startups, without requiring equity, and they could choose to exchange equity for an additional $1.5 million limit.

These promotions reflect the intense competition among model providers to win future large-scale clients. Y Combinator runs 4 program batches each year, with approximately 200 companies per batch recently, indicating that OpenAI and Anthropic may collectively provide up to $800 million in AI limits in the next year. Christopher Acker, co-founder of SuperPenguin, stated: "The AI world is being driven by OpenAI and Anthropic because they are giving money to startups to pay for usage costs."