[redacted] Launches V4 Pro at 14x the Price of V4 Flash, Signaling a Premium Shift

[redacted] has officially released its V4 Pro model, pricing it up to 14 times higher than V4 Flash as it shifts from ultra-cheap to premium flagship positioning. The new model scores 53 on Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index versus 40 for Flash, with improved agentic and coding capabilities. The move comes as [redacted] seeks to regain momentum against Chinese AI competitors.

Key Takeaways

[redacted] has officially released its V4 Pro model, pricing it up to 14 times higher than V4 Flash as it shifts from ultra-cheap to premium flagship positioning.
The new model scores 53 on Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index versus 40 for Flash, with improved agentic and coding capabilities.
The move comes as [redacted] seeks to regain momentum against Chinese AI competitors.

AI synthesis2 sources6

[redacted] has formally released its V4 Pro model, pricing it significantly higher than its V4 Flash counterpart as the company pivots from its ultra-budget positioning to a more premium flagship strategy.

The V4-Pro-0813 model is priced at $1.32 per million input tokens and $3.96 per million output tokens, according to independent benchmarking firm Artificial Analysis. That's roughly 9 times the input price and 14 times the output price of V4 Flash.

The pricing shift comes after V4 Flash, released last month, unexpectedly outperformed an April preview version of V4 Pro in several independent tests. The official V4 Pro release now represents a meaningful step up: Artificial Analysis gave the reasoning version a score of 53 on its Intelligence Index, versus 40 for V4 Flash.

[redacted] said V4-Pro-0813 substantially improves its capabilities for AI agents and is available through its API, app, and web products. The company also introduced peak and off-peak pricing tiers.

The move marks a strategic shift for [redacted], which rose to prominence after its R1 model went viral in early 2025 by demonstrating that powerful AI could be built at much lower cost than US rivals. However, its early lead has since been challenged by Chinese competitors including Moonshot AI, Zhipu AI, MiniMax, Alibaba, and ByteDance.

[redacted] is also pursuing a fundraising round at a valuation of about $74 billion, following a $7.4 billion financing round in June. The company plans to at least double staffing across departments and is developing its own AI chip to reduce reliance on Nvidia and Huawei.