From 'Model Race' to 'Closing the Books': What Competition in AI Industry Is Now About – Answers from WAIC 2026
At WAIC 2026, experts noted a paradigm shift: the AI industry is moving from showcasing model capabilities to rigorous financial accounting ('closing the books'). Three key cost items are discussed – infrastructure (total investment exceeded $700 billion with only $50 billion in revenue), inference (cost per token dropped 8–10 times but total spending rose), and capital (investors demand real economics). Models remain important, but the focus is shifting to product, agent capabilities, infrastructure, and trusted data.
Anthropic
Moonshot AI

