「AI新世代」解码“AI六小虎”之“理想派”月之暗面：大幅降价失先机，是破局还是无奈

Core Viewpoint - The company "月之暗面" has announced a significant price reduction for its model inference services and context caching, aiming to remain competitive in the AI model market amidst rising competition from "DeepSeek" [2][3][5]. Pricing Adjustments - The price for model inference services has been reduced from 12 RMB/M Tokens to 2 RMB/M Tokens for input and from 10 RMB/M Tokens to 10 RMB/M Tokens for output for the 8k context length model. For the 32k context length, prices dropped from 24 RMB/M Tokens to 5 RMB/M Tokens for input and from 20 RMB/M Tokens to 20 RMB/M Tokens for output. The 128k version saw a reduction from 60 RMB/M Tokens to 10 RMB/M Tokens for input and from 30 RMB/M Tokens to 30 RMB/M Tokens for output [3][4]. - Context caching prices have also been adjusted, with Cache creation costs dropping from 24 RMB/M Tokens to 4 RMB/M Tokens, Cache storage from 5 RMB/M Tokens/Minute to 1 RMB/M Tokens/Minute, and Cache calls from 0.02 RMB/Request to 0.01 RMB/Request [3][4]. Competitive Landscape - The price reduction represents a move into the competitive landscape of AI models, where "月之暗面" had previously been less aggressive. The company is now joining the price war initiated by "DeepSeek" [5][6]. - Industry experts believe that the timing of this price cut is late, as the first half of the year is critical for AI startups, and competitors are aggressively using price reductions to capture market share [5][6]. User Engagement and Market Position - "月之暗面" experienced significant user engagement, with Kimi's monthly visits reaching 12.18 million in March 2024, making it the second most visited AI assistant after Baidu's Wenxin Yiyan [6]. - However, recent data shows a decline in its market position, with "DeepSeek" leading in active user numbers, significantly impacting "月之暗面" [6][7]. Technological Innovations - The company has attributed the price reductions to technological innovations, particularly through its collaboration with Tsinghua University on the Mooncake project, which has improved inference speed and reduced costs [4][8]. - Despite the advancements, "月之暗面" faces challenges in commercializing its technology effectively, as it lacks the capital backing that competitors like "DeepSeek" possess [7][8]. Future Directions - The company has announced plans to open-source some of its achievements, although experts suggest that technological superiority will be the key factor in determining market success rather than the choice between open-source and closed-source models [8].