The Great AI Cost Panic of 2026

Derek Thompson digs into the current news cycle about out-of-control AI token spend, and makes the case that since we're literally only 5 months into the ✨agentic era✨, we need to look at it in the context of how technology cycles usually work: Rather than see the agent backlash as a clear sign that AI is a scam, or that it is doomed, it might make more sense to see this development in the context of a normal technological adoption curve. [...] As SemiAnalysis’s Doug O’Laughlin told me in an interview last week, every new technology requires an extended period of trial and error, as organizations toggle between (a) not enough experimentation or spending, followed by (b) too much experimentation and spending, followed by (c) too dramatic a pullback, followed by (d) the repetition of steps (a) through (c), until firms figure out a long-term balance between labor spending and tech spending. Whether AI skeptics like [cognitive scientist Gary] Marcus are right that the bubble is about to…