Vertical: Global AI Spend to Hit $2.52 Trillion in 2026

BlockBeats News, March 14th. International research firm Gartner has released its latest forecast, predicting that global artificial intelligence spending will reach $2.52 trillion in 2026, a 44% increase from 2025. AI is undergoing a fundamental transformation: the foundational layer is maturing, while the application layer is experiencing innovation acceleration. Gartner summarizes this as "dual-speed development" — the foundational models are becoming mature while the application layer is accelerating innovation.

Gartner points out that by 2026, generative AI has entered the "trough of disillusionment" on the technology maturity curve. This is not a technological failure but a necessary market rationalization. Research by the MIT Project NANDA team shows that 95% of enterprise generative AI pilot projects have not delivered measurable business value, highlighting significant implementation challenges.

Enterprise procurement strategies are shifting towards pragmatism, preferring to obtain embedded AI capabilities from existing software vendors, signaling that AI is becoming a standard feature in enterprise software. Despite the shift to pragmatic procurement, infrastructure investment remains strong. The report indicates that AI infrastructure spending will reach $1.36 trillion in 2026, a growth of approximately 49% from 2025.

The application layer is witnessing an innovation surge. Gartner predicts that by 2028, over half of the generative AI models used by enterprises will be domain-specific models, with strong momentum already evident in 2026.

Agent-based AI emerges as a core technology trend in 2026. Unlike traditional generative AI, AI agents can autonomously make decisions, plan, and execute tasks. For example, in cloud cost optimization, AI agents can continuously monitor and automatically fine-tune, shifting cost optimization from "post-event visibility" to "continuous execution," with multi-agent systems further amplifying this capability.