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Equation 6 · Part 11 · Actually Building with the Grok API

subscript

Cost(ni,no)={ni piL+no poL,ni<Tni piH+no poH,ni≥T\text{Cost}(n_i, n_o) = \begin{cases} n_i\, p_i^{L} + n_o\, p_o^{L}, & n_i < T \\ n_i\, p_i^{H} + n_o\, p_o^{H}, & n_i \geq T \end{cases}
subscript

What this part means

The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.

Its job in the formula

A subscript distinguishes a version, component, step, or member of a quantity. It does not automatically mean multiplication.

The passage around this formula

The pricing structure has a feature worth building a mental model around before it costs you money in production: it is not a marginal rate that blends smoothly as a request grows, it is a cliff. Every model’s documented price list carries two tiers — one for requests under 200,000 tokens, and a materially higher one, roughly double across the board, once a request reaches that threshold — and the higher rate applies to the entire request, not just the tokens past the line [ 1 ] . Written as a cost function of input tokens nin_i and output tokens non_o against a threshold T = 200{,}000 , with low-tier prices piLp_i^{L}, poLp_o^{L} and high-tier prices piHp_i^{H}, poHp_o^{H} : Cost(ni,no)={ni piL+no poL,ni<Tni piH+no poH,ni≥T\text{Cost}(n_i, n_o) = \begin{cases} n_i\, p_i^{L} + n_o\, p_o^{L}, & n_i < T \\ n_i\, p_i^{H} + n_o\, p_o^{H}, & n_i \geq T \end{cases}. For…

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Learn the underlying idea

A subscript is a label attached below a symbol. It often selects a time step, component, category, or member of a sequence.

Open the illustrated subscripts: which member of a family? guide →

Sources cited in the surrounding passage

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.