In its early years, Uber made a cross-town ride cheaper than a taxi. Investors covered the difference until the company needed to make money. Data from Rakuten Intelligence showed US ride-hailing prices rising 92% between 2018 and 2021, and by 2023 even Uber’s CEO was surprised to hear what a three-mile trip in New York now cost. Artificial intelligence is approaching a similar moment. Anthropic confirmed in June that it had confidentially filed for a US public listing, and OpenAI is reportedly…