AI startup Lindy has stopped using Claude entirely in favour of Deepseek, a move that will save millions in annual costs. CEO Flo Crivello told CNBC that the previous spending was unsustainable and exceeded the salary budget of their 25-person team. The new setup hosts the Chinese model on US soil through a US company. Crivello stated he would switch back only if Anthropic reduced its prices, noting the change is now a matter of survival for the business.
This shift highlights how cost pressure is forcing early adopters to abandon premium Western models for cheaper alternatives. Recent analysis by Snowflake’s CTO suggests affordable Chinese models like GLM-5.2 do not match Claude in quality but win on price-performance ratios for many tasks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently noted that AI costs have become a huge issue, especially as agentic systems burn through tokens rapidly. The trend suggests Anthropic faces significant headwinds as companies tighten spending.
- Lindy hosts the model on US soil
- AI costs previously exceeded personnel costs
- Switch is reversible if prices drop
