The cost of training an AI model depends on the project’s scope. Across the industry, costs continue to trend downward as CPU/GPU power and cloud access provide more resources. In fact, the average training cost for a small project, such as image classification, was $1,000 in 2017 but only $5 in 2022, according to Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence AI Index. In comparison, the cost for large enterprise AI projects is actually increasing. For example, something like ChatGPT training can require an estimated budget of $3 million to $5 million. This disparity comes down to the complexity of projects and the fact that growing resources make increasingly complex and boundary-pushing projects available—if you can afford them.