Bergemann, Dirk, Bonatti, Alessandro and Smolin, Alexey (2025) The Economics of Large Language Models: Token Allocation, Fine-Tuning, and Optimal Pricing. [UNSPECIFIED]

Abstract

We develop an economic framework to analyze the optimal pricing and product design of Large Language Models (LLM). Our framework captures several key features of LLMs: variable operational costs of processing input and output tokens; the ability to customize models through fine-tuning; and high-dimensional user heterogeneity in terms of task requirements and error sensitivity. In our model, a monopolistic seller offers multiple versions of LLMs through a menu of products. The optimal pricing structure depends on whether token allocation across tasks is contractible and whether users face scale constraints.