Artificial intelligence is entering a new phase in which broader business adoption, rapidly declining model costs and intensifying competition are reinforcing one another. Large businesses remain the most significant users, but adoption is increasingly spreading to mid-sized and smaller companies as AI becomes more affordable and accessible. At the same time, competition among U.S. and Chinese models is driving down the cost of AI inference, creating a potentially powerful demand catalyst. Lower costs can encourage greater utilization, which in turn supports continued spending on data centers, semiconductors and other AI infrastructure. For investors, this suggests that AI companies may sustain strong revenue and earnings growth even as competition pressures margins.