Definition
Useful intelligence per dollar is OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar's proposed scorecard for relating useful work, cost per successful task, dependability, and value at scale. It redirects attention from token price and adoption volume toward whether AI completes work people can use and whether the value of that work grows faster than its full cost.
It is better treated as a scorecard than as a universal scalar. Different tasks produce different kinds of value, and "intelligence" is not directly measurable in dollars. For an operational metric, define a task-specific accepted outcome and calculate its model, tool, infrastructure, retry, review, correction, and incident costs.
Distinguish it from nearby terms
Token efficiency measures accepted output against token consumption. Cost per accepted durable outcome includes broader costs and a durability window. Useful intelligence per dollar adds the business-value question but requires local judgment about what that value is.
Check your understanding
Before comparing models, define successful work, dependability, full cost, and the business value that survives after review.