Blackwell GPU Rental Prices Rise 48% as AI Compute Supply Tightens

According to ChainCatcher, the Ornn Compute Price Index shows that hourly rentals for Nvidia Blackwell GPUs rose 48%, from $2.75 to $4.08 over the past two months. Demand for compute has increased in recent months as companies seek capacity for AI agents that perform tasks such as coding and booking real estate viewings. OpenAI API usage rose from 6 billion tokens per minute last October to 15 billion in late March this year. Anthropic began limiting user token usage during peak weekday hours, from 5:00 AM to 11:00 AM Pacific Time, in late March. CoreWeave raised service prices by more than 20% late last year and began requiring smaller customers to sign contracts of at least three years, up from one year. OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said the company is dropping some projects because it lacks sufficient computing capacity.