I think for a while this is possible - the models definitely aren't as efficient as they can be as we've seen a lot of promising papers over the last year about how people are changing pieces and parts to do more with less. None of it has come to market yet that I'm aware of so for now it's just a hope I suppose but things like Opus definitely burn a ton of compute to be the leader in benchmarks but the gaps are closing.

Open source models apply pressures on the low end of the market. The paid models are so much better that they can charge based on value for enterprises.