Episode
China's AI Is Now 99% Cheaper Than America's
- Published
- May 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 910
- Processing state
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Summary
Xiaomi Slashes Maimo V2.5 AI Prices by 99% Permanently — What It Means for AI Agents & BusinessThe script explains that Xiaomi permanently cut Maimo V2.5 API pricing by up to 99%, with cash-hit input dropping to $0.0036 per million tokens and output falling dramatically (e.g., Maimo V2.5 Pro output from $6 to about $0.087 per million), while performance is highlighted as multimodal and fast at roughly 57 tokens/second, similar token costs to DeepSeek but faster. It frames this as part of a broader pattern after DeepSeek made a permanent discount the prior week, arguing the near-zero token “fuel” cost will accelerate AI agent adoption for business workflows like lead gen, SEO, customer responses, and automation via Jevons paradox. The script notes real concerns around trust and data privacy, suggests testing on real tasks, and promotes an “AI Profit Board”/agent operating system with coaching and resources to implement model-swappable workflows. 00:00 Xiaomi Drops Prices 00:48 A Bigger Price War 01:24 The New Token Math 02:18 Why Businesses Benefit 03:45 Jevons Paradox Explained 04:01 Quality and Privacy Concerns 05:23 China Forces Western Response 06:07 Build Agent Workflows Pitch 06:54 Tokens Become Infrastructure 08:19 Real Workflow Examples 09:13 Model Mixing Strategy 10:12 Test Before You Commit 10:56 How to Trial Maimo 11:27 Inference Costs Keep Falling 12:51 Boardroom Framework Pitch 13:53 Wrap Up and Takeaways