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Worldwide end-user spending on AI models and platforms is projected to total $64 billion in 2026, up 63.4% from $39 billion in 2025, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company. Spending on GenAI models is forecast to grow 117%, while AI platform spending will rise 36.9% in 2026.
“Enterprise AI budgets are coming under greater scrutiny, with increased focus on usage efficiency, cost control and measurable outcomes,” said Arunasree Cheparthi, Sr Principal Research Analyst at Gartner. “Spending is shifting toward providers who can demonstrate clear value across cost, latency, performance and reliability.
“This is giving an edge to providers that embed evaluation, cost transparency and usage tracking into customer workflows, making it easier to manage and optimize AI use. However, as spending becomes more usage-driven, providers face increasing pressure to demonstrate real adoption, sustained use and durable margins.”
This dynamic is accelerating growth in domain-specific language models (DSLMs) and specialized models, which are forecast to grow 210% in 2026.
“Over the long-term, the biggest winners will be vendors that help enterprises manage where and how AI is used across the business,” said Cheparthi. “As more models enter the market and usage-based pricing becomes harder to predict, buyers will turn to platforms that help them choose the right tools, monitor performance, enforce policy and keep costs under control.”
