The word “tokenomics” just got hijacked. In a twist that would make any crypto native do a double-take, Silicon Valley’s biggest companies have co-opted the term to describe something entirely different: the financial management of AI model tokens, the units of text that large language models process every time someone asks ChatGPT to rewrite their email.

The AI spending binge

In early 2026, companies like Meta and Amazon went all-in on AI adoption. Not just encouraging employees to use AI tools, but actively gamifying it. Internal leaderboards tracked who consumed the most AI tokens. Performance metrics rewarded heavy usage.

Uber burned through its entire 2026 AI tools budget in just four months. Salesforce,…