Kevin Kelly: If token costs are crucial in the future, then China’s open-source models have a big advantage

BlockBeats News, July 18: In an on-site media interview at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, the famous futurist, “father of the Silicon Valley spirit” Kevin Kelly said that if one day everyone starts paying attention to Token (token) costs, then because open-source models exist, it is an advantage for China’s AI.

Kevin Kelly noted that Token (token) consumption costs are becoming increasingly important, and that for now, it seems everyone doesn’t care about costs. “But I think when we’re consuming such a huge amount of Tokens all the time, people will start caring (about costs). If you can provide a cost level that is only one-tenth of Anthropic’s cost, then it will overturn the situation.”

However, Kevin Kelly also reminded that the open-source model needs sufficient funding to keep running, because unlike closed-source models, it is not as profitable. “Building these large models requires massive funding.”