San Francisco-based Anthropic recently introduced its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4. It is $0.015 per million input tokens and $0.075 per million output tokens. This rollout comes amidst a heated AI arms race. Most recently, Cursor was forced to walk back changes after a user outcry over changes that were just posted with newly introduced pricing tiers.
For context, Cursor, another significant AI product, is reported to already have surpassed $500m ARR. It has a subscription-based Pro plan for $99 per user per month. Most recently, it garnered headlines by signing multi-year deals with all four of the biggest AI providers – OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI. The agreements allow Cursor to offer a new $200-a-month Cursor Ultra plan, empowering users to execute coding tasks using their preferred AI models until they reach a $20 usage limit.
Unfortunately, users have taken to social media to vent their anger at the new scheme. It doesn’t help that according to reports, users tend to burn through their request limits in no time. Most expire after only a few requests when accessed via Anthropic’s new Claude models. This resulted in a new slew of surprise overcharges, since the vast majority of users were confused about what it meant to go over the $20 cap.
Michael Truell, the CEO of Anysphere, saw that they had failed to communicate effectively with their users regarding the new pricing rollout. This recognition is in response to that growing frustration. He wrote, “We admitted upfront that we botched the pricing rollout and deeply regret that. Truell called for better communication during future fare increases.
“We recognize that we didn’t handle this pricing rollout well and we’re sorry.” – Michael Truell
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Claude Opus 4 is its new proficiency on longer-horizon tasks. According to Truell, with the new models you can accomplish much longer-horizon tasks in a single request. This development holds tremendous potential for businesses looking to implement sophisticated coding solutions.
Anthropic has had impressive impacts with its new AI coding tool Claude Code. This innovation has been a key driver behind its epic increase in annual recurring revenue upward of $4 billion. Jared Kaplan, co-founder of Anthropic, announced intentions for a deep, ongoing partnership with Cursor. This partnership marks an exciting future as both companies continue to find their place in the fast-evolving market landscape.
Cursor has quickly become one of the breakout hits among all new AI products. It faces intense competition from the same AI providers that it works with. Keeping it affordable for users is a key hurdle. We need to consider the increasing costs of using advanced AI models, like those developed by Anthropic.
Given these struggles, Anysphere is committed to rolling out a more transparent pricing model in the future. As part of this transition, the company has plans to refund impacted users who were caught off guard and charged after the policy changed.
As the AI landscape continues to evolve, both Anthropic and Cursor remain focused on improving user experiences while navigating the complexities of pricing and competition. The new partnership between these two powerhouses has the potential to revolutionize a user’s experience with AI resources. This change will have a significant effect on coding and beyond.