This is only true if they can't saturate token production with a model that does less superfluous things. Given that they can (they're hilariously compute strained), having a model that solves tasks more quickly adds way more perceived value to users.

Only if the customer is paying per token. If it's by subscription they're burning their own money

Agreed although the differences between the effort and reasoning is massive. I generally ship 40 hours in three with AI. I could not figure out why my delivery was behind until I started going through the logs. The thinking was extensive, the effort was beyond the original request by a magnitude of 50x

Just like me fr fr

A.k.a. theft.

nice conspiracy theory, but it doesn't hold. these companies won't last long if people don't get actual work done.