The race for intelligence has been underestimating the shift towards model orchestration and open-source ecosystems, according to Rich Privorotski, head of Delta-1 at Goldman. A panel of Gemini 3 Flash, Kimi K2.6, and DeepSeek V4 Pro outperformed solo GPT-5.5 and Opus 4.8, while landing within 1% of Fable 5 at roughly half the cost. This development has significant implications for the token economy.

On one hand, lower costs and broader access to intelligence should drive more token consumption and compute demand. This is a bullish sign, as it could lead to increased adoption and more demand for computational resources. However, on the other hand, this shift accelerates token deflation and raises questions about the durability of model economics. As intelligence costs decrease, it remains to be seen whether the increased demand for computational resources will outweigh the decreased pricing power of tokens.

The trillion dollar question is whether lower intelligence costs will create more demand than they destroy. While the potential benefits of lower costs and broader access are significant, the impact on token economics remains uncertain. As the race for intelligence continues to evolve, it will be crucial to monitor the development of open-source ecosystems and their impact on the token economy.