Kevin Kelly: If Token Cost Becomes Crucial in the Future, China’s Open-Source Models Will Have a Significant Advantage

Odaily Planet Daily News, July 18 - At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, renowned futurist and "Godfather of Silicon Valley" Kevin Kelly stated in an interview that if one day everyone begins to care about token costs, the existence of open-source models will give China an advantage in the AI field.

Kevin Kelly mentioned that the cost of token consumption is becoming increasingly important, although it seems that no one cares about the cost right now. "But I believe that when we are constantly consuming such a massive number of tokens, everyone will start to care (about the cost). If you can provide a product at just one-tenth the cost of Anthropic, it will disrupt the landscape." However, Kelly also cautioned that the open-source model requires sufficient funding to sustain operations, as it is not as profitable as the closed-source model. "Building these large models demands enormous capital." (The Paper)