> We can assume they are doing so at a profit

This is false. We may assume it's the most efficient way of generating revenue given their GPUs, but their overall profitability will just be a guess. They would still have incentives to run hardware at maximum, even when it's uncertain to eventually recoup costs.

> a world where those API prices aren't profitable

A lab with employees and models in training has other costs than the operating expenses of a GPU farm.

Why would a company sell inference on Openrouter if they're not profitable? Except for Grog/Cerebras and a few other hardware companies looking to showcase their new chips.

If they're losing money and have no VC backing, they'd just turn off the lights.

The actual inference is operated at a 95%+ margin.