{"id":888600,"date":"2026-01-28T23:24:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/the-12-crucial-shifts-that-will-define-ai-in-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T23:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T05:24:38","slug":"the-12-crucial-shifts-that-will-define-ai-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/the-12-crucial-shifts-that-will-define-ai-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"The 12 Crucial Shifts That Will Define AI in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pagecontent\">\n<div>\n<div id=\"singleArticle__sidebar\">\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d32r1sh890xpii.cloudfront.net\/avatars\/medium\/b3b94771f086a7b29589c5f0acc2e42b.png\" alt=\"City A.M \" title=\"City A.M \" previous-src=\"data:image\/png;base64,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\"><\/p>\n<p>City A.M <\/p>\n<p>CityAM.com is the online presence of City A.M., London&#8217;s first free daily business newspaper.\u00a0Both platforms cover financial and business news as well as sport and\u2026<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/contributors\/City-AM\/\">More Info<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=oilprice.com\"><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSet us as your preferred Google source\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Premium Content<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <\/ul>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"singleArticle__content\" data-spons=\"0\" data-id=\"43052\">\n<p><span>By <a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/contributors\/City-AM\/\">City A.M <\/a> &#8211; Dec 24, 2025, 12:00 PM CST<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"key_points\">\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>The next phase of AI will be defined by the merging of context and privacy, and a shift in focus from basic LLM wrappers to developing &#8220;live AI&#8221; with robust, granular controls.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>AI applications must move from generating &#8220;slop&#8221; and &#8220;vibe revenue&#8221; to proving genuine unit economics and amplifying unique human voices, making organizational proprietary data truly useful.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><span>Geopolitical and market forces, including the rise of cheaper Chinese and open-source models, a significant increase in anti-elite skepticism, and Europe&#8217;s emergence as a trusted third pole, will drive a market correction in 2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" ><source media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d32r1sh890xpii.cloudfront.net\/article\/718x300\/2025-12-23_elj7gfb2oa.jpg\" alt=\"AI\" title=\"AI\" previous-src=\"https:\/\/d32r1sh890xpii.cloudfront.net\/article\/718x300\/2025-12-23_elj7gfb2oa.jpg\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div id=\"article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t    <body><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A year of building an AI business has given Lewis Liu a lot to think about. He gives us his 12 AI assumptions to live by in 2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>\u2018Tis the season for 2026 predictions, a ritual I usually hate. Every December, pundits confidently forecast the future, only to forget their words 12 months later. I\u2019m hardly innocent: I\u2019ve made my share of half-formed predictions across podcasts and blog posts, promptly buried by the next news cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This year feels different. Building a new company has shifted my thinking from forecasts to assumptions; it\u2019s the kind I\u2019m organising my company and bets around.\u00a0 So here\u2019s my version of the 12 Days of Christmas: 12 AI assumptions for 2026 that I\u2019m actively betting on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Roughnecks-Riches-Start-Up-American-Fracking\/dp\/B0FCDBHGSW\" data-banner_id=\"38\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d1o9e4un86hhpc.cloudfront.net\/a\/img\/banners\/in-article\/book.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>These aren\u2019t abstract thought experiments. They\u2019re shaped by a year of building a venture from scratch, investing in early-stage companies, talking to 300+ executives across a variety of industries, advising policymakers and spending time with people who are both deeply technical and unusually plugged into how AI is actually being deployed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Context and privacy will merge as the integrated hot topic in AI. <\/strong><span>Privacy and context are two sides of the same coin: you can\u2019t have truly effective AI without deep context, and you can\u2019t share deep context without robust, granular privacy controls woven in. This remains under-developed as the industry focuses on foundational LLMs and basic GPT-wrapper applications, but if you want \u201clive AI\u201d in your workflow, context and privacy as twin-concepts will need to be borne together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Vibe-coding will enter a trough of disillusionment, then mature. <\/strong><span>We\u2019ve seen precipitous drops in AI-coding agents like Lovable and Cursor; AI coding platforms saw <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7401994829607632896\/\"><span>a 76 per cent drop<\/span><\/a><span> in activity last quarter. As one meme puts it: \u201cVibe coding allows two engineers to develop the technical debt of 50 engineers.\u201d These AI agents generate so much code that human engineers can\u2019t debug or iterate on it. Yet these tools are powerful (we use them daily), and a more measured approach will emerge with the next generation, alongside improved guardrails.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Human originality will be rewarded as a foil to AI slop. <\/strong><span>Let\u2019s face it: we\u2019re all sick of GPT-laden lazy AI slop. We can now recognize it a mile away, and genuinely human-originated content will be appreciated in <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/why-your-next-car-will-be-grey-and-your-next-thought-will-be-too\/\"><span>a sea of beige<\/span><\/a><span>, thoughtless AI-generated text. Personalized AI that amplifies unique human voices offers a potential compromise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>AI will finally make organizational proprietary data useful. <\/strong><span>If we can solve privacy and context, all the unstructured and siloed data in an organization can be leveraged for greater insights and genuine automation. Data \u2013 customer data, project precedent, documented employee experience \u2013 will become as much a differentiating factor for firms as humans and culture if paired with the right controls and governance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Boring, traditional industries (legal, finance, real estate, energy) with thoughtful AI adoption will start outcompeting their peers. <\/strong><span>Believe it or not, law firms are now among the most avid adopters of AI in knowledge management and document review, while energy development companies are actively exploring how AI can improve site construction. The gains for traditional companies are much greater than for already tech-forward ones, allowing them to leapfrog competitors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Real recurring revenue with genuine unit economics will start to overshadow \u201cvibe revenue\u201d. <\/strong><span>2023-2025 saw unprecedented growth in start-up \u201crevenue\u201d. If you peel back the onion, much of this revenue isn\u2019t truly recurring, it is just repackaged services, and carries extremely low or negative margins. 2026 will bring more mature AI business practices \u2013 and yes, gross margins and real revenue will matter again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Populist anti-elite skepticism towards Silicon Valley will rise significantly. <\/strong><span>Sam Altman\u2019s rhetoric about \u201creplacing humans\u201d isn\u2019t landing well with white-collar workers. Combined with increasing wealth inequality, this will fuel resentment not just among blue-collar workers, but among relatively affluent professionals too. As AI builders, we must build AI that works for humans, not just the oligarchic few.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Investment in physical AI in the West will dramatically increase. <\/strong><span>As part of Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerican dynamism\u201d push, investment will surge in bringing AI to the physical world the way China already has with its automated dark factories and advanced robotics. We already see Bezos <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/17\/technology\/bezos-project-prometheus.html\"><span>launching Build AI with $6.2bn<\/span><\/a><span> to bring AI to manufacturing, an attempt to close the gap with China.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Chinese models will continue gaining momentum and acceptance among AI builders in the West. <\/strong><span>As I discussed in my last column, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz predicts that 80 per cent of Silicon Valley start-ups are already using Chinese models. While my new venture still uses Google Gemini and Anthropic given our customer base, we\u2019re watching this sentiment shift closely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The \u201cchip wars\u201d will matter less as better, cheaper open-source models flood the market, reducing the need for best-in-class GPUs. <\/strong><span>With Deepseek 3.2 benchmarked at 96 per cent cheaper than OpenAI or Google Gemini, the question is whether best-in-class chips are necessary to build most AI applications. They may still be needed for training AI models, but running models for application building and production represents the vast majority of GPU use cases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Market correction driven by Chinese models and data center overbuild. <\/strong><span>In my <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityam.com\/silicon-valley-has-invented-its-own-for-of-central-planning\/\"><span>last column<\/span><\/a><span>, I questioned the necessity of trillion-dollar data center build-outs given orders-of-magnitude cheaper models. What does this mean when, according to many economists, US GDP growth is 100 per cent fuelled by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/603be7d5-13ac-4047-9854-24db5f0f0802\"><span>data center investments<\/span><\/a><span>? I\u2019m not alone: the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2025\/12\/03\/ibm-ceo-no-way-hyperscalers-google-amazon-turn-profit-data-center-spending\/\"><span>IBM CEO<\/span><\/a><span> questioned this last week too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Europe will emerge as a third pole in AI, not in \u201cregulation\u201d nor in \u201cAI acceleration\u201d, but in old-fashioned trust and a perspective about humanity. <\/strong><span>Europe\u2019s approach to AI, often caricatured as solely focused on regulation, is rooted in deeper values: privacy, human-centricity and a cautious, thoughtful perspective about AI\u2019s role in society. This isn\u2019t just about slowing down (though the regulation is tedious); it\u2019s about building trust and ensuring AI serves humanity, not the other way around. As the global AI race heats up, this old-fashioned trust and distinct perspective on humanity will position Europe as a critical third pole, offering a necessary counterbalance to US accelerationism and China\u2019s application-driven pragmatism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>AI will continue to develop at breakneck speed in 2026, but the texture of that development will be different. It has to be. AI should not be \u201cdone to humans\u201d; it must be developed for humans, amplifying rather than replacing us. As I build my company, invest in others, and watch this space evolve, I\u2019m organising my work around a simple conviction: the most valuable AI applications will be the ones that make us more human, not less. These 12 assumptions reflect that bet. The alternative, AI that serves only the oligarchic few, isn\u2019t just bad business. It\u2019s inhuman.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>By City AM\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>More Top Reads From Oilprice.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/oilprice.com\/Latest-Energy-News\/World-News\/Sanctioned-Ships-Still-Loading-Venezuelan-Oil-Despite-US-Blockade.html\">Sanctioned Ships Still Loading Venezuelan Oil Despite U.S. Blockade<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/oilprice.com\/Latest-Energy-News\/World-News\/US-Ready-for-Partnership-in-Indias-Nuclear-Energy-Industry.html\">U.S. Ready for Partnership in India\u2019s Nuclear Energy Industry<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/oilprice.com\/Energy\/Gas-Prices\/California-Gas-May-Soar-Past-5-Per-Gallon-By-2026.html\">California Gas May Soar Past $5 Per Gallon By 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/body>\t\t\t\t\t\t    <\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h5>Download The Free Oilprice App Today<\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/in\/app\/oilprice\/id1389772617?mt=8\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Download Oilprice.com on Apple\" width=\"169\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/d1o9e4un86hhpc.cloudfront.net\/a\/img\/cl\/app\/appstoredownload.svg\"><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=oilprice.android.app\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Download Oilprice.com on Android\" width=\"169\" height=\"50\" src=\"https:\/\/d1o9e4un86hhpc.cloudfront.net\/a\/img\/cl\/app\/androidbutton.png\" previous-src=\"https:\/\/d1o9e4un86hhpc.cloudfront.net\/a\/img\/cl\/app\/androidbutton.png\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/\">Back to homepage<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d32r1sh890xpii.cloudfront.net\/avatars\/medium\/b3b94771f086a7b29589c5f0acc2e42b.png\" alt=\"City A.M \" title=\"City A.M \"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>City A.M <\/h3>\n<p>\n\t            CityAM.com is the online presence of City A.M., London&#8217;s first free daily business newspaper.\u00a0Both platforms cover financial and business news as well as sport and\u2026\t          <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/contributors\/City-AM\/\">More Info<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>Related posts<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/oilprice.com\/#\" id=\"join-discussion\">Leave a comment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/oilprice.com\/Energy\/Energy-General\/The-12-Crucial-Shifts-That-Will-Define-AI-in-2026.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City A.M CityAM.com is the online presence of City A.M., London&#8217;s first free daily business newspaper.\u00a0Both platforms cover financial and business news as well as sport and\u2026 More Info Set us as your preferred Google source Premium Content By City A.M &#8211; Dec 24, 2025, 12:00 PM CST The next phase of AI will be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":888601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29136,26530],"tags":[7322,5072],"class_list":{"0":"post-888600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crucial","8":"category-shifts","9":"tag-crucial","10":"tag-shifts"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}