--- title: "Everyone is Wrong about Tokens" url: https://daily.dev/posts/everyone-is-wrong-about-tokens-b3ujoidqb source_url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zw-Uk9KJiA type: video:youtube source: "ThePrimeTime" published: 2026-05-25T13:25:42.641Z updated: 2026-05-25T13:26:00.706Z tags: ["openai", "ai-coding", "vibe-coding"] reading_time: 12 upvotes: 31 comments: 9 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Everyone is Wrong about Tokens **[ThePrimeTime](https://daily.dev/sources/primeagen)** · 12 min read · 31 upvotes · 9 comments ## Summary A commentary on the viral post about $1.3M spent on OpenAI tokens in 30 days, arguing that the current culture of maximizing token usage is unsustainable and misguided. The author draws parallels to the over-engineering era of microservices and Kubernetes, predicting that companies will eventually pivot from 'token maxing' to rewarding token efficiency. The piece warns against influencer-driven hype encouraging unlimited AI agent usage, and predicts a future consulting class around prompt and token efficiency — which the author finds equally absurd. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@tsuyoshi64** · 8 upvotes > We are shifting from "Is your code efficient?" to "Is your token usage efficient?" **@yaireo** · 2 upvotes > The same people who care so much about the environment and "justice" are knowingly and carelessly spending a "river" of tokens everyday without giving a damn about the huge environmental consequences (fresh water depletion for starters). > > I am using all the tools I can find to save tokens, even though my employer is paying for ALL the expenses, without caring. > > I opt for text-only prompts and am NOT uploading images in the chat (which are huge token-eaters) unless I absolutely must. (if data needs to be extracted from an image I will use the cheapest capable AI then paste the data back to a... **@baptistecrouzet** · 1 upvotes > "Boohoo AI will replace devs" but at what cost ? The idea is in some CEO/CTO mind, but with no budget for the tokens, often needed (in input) for better results **@raktapyas** · 0 upvotes > real AI moat was the tokens we burned along the way **@octave\_** · 0 upvotes > it feels like all tech companies are owned by [coal rollers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_coal) --- Tags: [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai), [#ai-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-coding), [#vibe-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/vibe-coding) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/everyone-is-wrong-about-tokens-b3ujoidqb)