Try setting up one laundry which charges by the hour and washes clothes really really slowly, and another which washes clothes at normal speed at cost plus some margin similar to your competitors.

The one which maximizes ROI will not be the one you rigged to cost more and take longer.

I don't think the analogy is correct here.

Directionally, tokens are not equivalent to "time spent processing your query", but rather a measure of effort/resource expended to process your query.

So a more germane analogy would be:

What if you set up a laundry which charges you based on the amount of laundry detergent used to clean your clothes?

Sounds fair.

But then, what if the top engineers at the laundry offered an "auto-dispenser" that uses extremely advanced algorithms to apply just the right optimal amount of detergent for each wash?

Sounds like value-added for the customer.

... but now you end up with a system where the laundry management team has strong incentives to influence how liberally the auto-dispenser will "spend" to give you "best results"