# Token Efficiency: OpenAI's Full-Stack Bet

OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol does the same work with 54% fewer output tokens. Here is why token efficiency is now the single MLOps cost lever that matters most.  
  
Key takeaways:  
• On August 25, 2026, OpenAI published The Full Stack Behind Abundant Intelligence, framing efficiency as a full-stack result across models, inference, silicon, and its agentic harness.  
• On the third-party Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index, OpenAI reports GPT-5.6 Sol set a new high of 80, about 2.8 points above Claude Fable 5, while using 54% fewer output tokens.  
• Sol also finished tasks in 57% less time than the next-highest model, and on the Intelligence Index came within a point of Fable 5 at 61% less time and roughly half the cost.  
• The MLOps lesson: as quality converges, token efficiency, tokens per task, is what separates a cheap production system from an expensive one.  
• Van Data Team's recommendation: measure tokens per task, compare models on efficiency at your real workload, and keep your stack portable so you can adopt gains as they land.  
  
Read the full guide on Van Data Team:  
https://vandatateam.com/blog/token-efficiency-ai-stack