2026 Global AI Spending to Hit $2.52 Trillion! Gartner: Mature Base Layer & Booming Application Layer Enter Dual-Speed Growth Phase

International research firm Gartner predicts that global AI spending will reach $2.52 trillion in 2026, a 44% increase from 2025. Currently, AI is showing dual-speed growth: base models are maturing, while the application layer is experiencing an innovation boom.

Generative AI has entered the "trough of disillusionment" in the technology maturity curve, with 95% of enterprise pilot projects failing to deliver measurable business value. Enterprises are shifting to pragmatic procurement, preferring embedded AI capabilities from existing vendors.

AI infrastructure spending will hit $1.36 trillion (up 49%), with domain-specific models and agent AI becoming trends in the application layer. Agent AI can make autonomous decisions and execute tasks, such as continuously monitoring and optimizing cloud costs, transforming from "post-event visibility" to "continuous execution."