Here’s the real reason AI companies are slimming down their models

OpenAI’s ‘new mini’ version of GPT-4o is all about the economics of more complex AI-powered apps.

OpenAI on Thursday announced GPT-4o mini, a smaller and less expensive version of its GPT-4o AI model. OpenAI is one of a number of AI companies to develop a version of its best “foundation” model that trades away some intelligence for some speed and affordability. Such a trade-off could let more developers power their apps with AI, and may open the door for more complex apps like autonomous agents in the future.