AI credits offered to startups have become a commercial weapon. According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI, Anthropic and other labs are now handing out millions of dollars in free credits to secure customers before those companies generate a single dollar of revenue. Good news on the surface, but a signal worth decoding for any SMB building its AI strategy on prices that will not last.

In brief

• OpenAI and Anthropic are funding customer acquisition with API credits reaching several million dollars per startup.
• Anthropic offers up to 100,000 dollars in Claude credits with no equity stake required; OpenAI has offered up to 2 million dollars through its Grove program, sometimes in exchange for equity.
• A founder quoted by the Wall Street Journal accumulated more than 3 million dollars in cloud credits, the equivalent of a typical seed round.
• Anthropic and OpenAI together capture close to 89% of the revenue generated by AI startups, according to estimates cited in trade press.
• For an SMB not eligible for these programs, the message is clear: today's AI pricing is partly artificial and should be budgeted for as such.

What happened: the credit race is accelerating

The phenomenon is not new, but it changed scale in 2026. Anthropic has run a structured startup program for months: up to 25,000 dollars in direct credits, an additional track through partner venture funds, and a dedicated fund with Menlo Ventures, for a total reaching 100,000 dollars, with no equity given up. OpenAI, for its part, launched Grove, a five-week program in San Francisco offering 50,000 dollars in API credits per team.

What turned this into breaking news is the escalation reported by the Wall Street Journal: in May 2026, Sam Altman personally offered a startup 2 million dollars in credits in exchange for an equity stake. Anthropic countered with 500,000 dollars with no equity attached. OpenAI matched the offer at 500,000 dollars with no equity, while keeping an option for an additional 1.5 million for founders willing to give up shares.

Why AI labs are subsidizing their customers

This generosity is not philanthropy. No generative AI company today shows a clearly profitable business model, according to several analysts cited in the US business press. The real asset OpenAI and Anthropic are fighting over is not this quarter's revenue, but tomorrow's dominant position: a startup that builds its product on Claude or the OpenAI API today will find it very hard to switch providers in two years.

It is a classic acquisition strategy, applied to AI: subsidize usage to create technical dependency, then raise prices once migration becomes costly. Overall sector funding illustrates the scale of the stakes: global fundraising hit a record level in the first half of 2026, with OpenAI and Anthropic alone accounting for a very significant share of global venture capital over the period, according to data cited by trade media.

Who can actually benefit?

These programs target early-stage tech startups, generally venture-backed, not traditional established SMBs (trades, services, industry, retail). An SMB looking to automate its invoicing or customer support is in principle not eligible. But understanding these mechanisms is still useful for negotiating your own terms.

What this actually changes for an SMB

Even without access to these credits, three lessons are directly actionable.

Today's price is not the final price. A sector that is massively subsidizing customer acquisition has not yet found its economic equilibrium. An SMB that builds a critical process (invoicing, customer support, compliance) entirely on a single AI provider takes on a dependency risk if pricing rises once the market consolidates.

Diversification protects better than a single contract. Keeping the ability to switch to another model, including an open model like Mistral or local hosting for sensitive uses, limits exposure to a sudden price increase. Our guide on open-source AI models for SMBs covers this option in detail.

Negotiation is still possible, even outside a startup program. Resellers and integrators regularly obtain volume discounts or extended trial periods for their SMB clients. It is legitimate to ask for these terms rather than paying the default public rate.

FAQ

Can an SMB benefit from OpenAI or Anthropic's AI credits?

In principle, no, for the flagship programs described here: they target venture-backed tech startups founded less than four years ago. A traditional SMB should instead negotiate discounts through a reseller or a direct contract.

Why are OpenAI and Anthropic spending so much to attract customers?

Because neither currently shows a clearly profitable business model, according to several industry analysts. The priority is to lock in a customer base before competition stabilizes, even if that means subsidizing usage in the short term.

Do these free credits mean AI will stay cheap?

Not necessarily. The credits fund acquisition, not long-term pricing. Once startups are dependent on a provider, nothing guarantees prices will stay this low after the market consolidates.

How can an SMB protect itself from a future rise in AI prices?

By avoiding total exclusivity with a single provider, regularly testing alternatives (including open-source models), and reviewing its AI budget at regular intervals rather than signing a fixed multi-year contract.

Conclusion

The AI credit war between OpenAI and Anthropic does not directly concern most SMBs, but it reveals a useful reality: today's AI prices are partly subsidized by a race to acquire customers, not yet stabilized by a profitable business model. Keeping contractual and technical flexibility remains the best protection. To go further on choosing an AI model that fits your budget, check out our AI resources for SMB leaders.