If 2024 was the year of "Magic" and 2025 was the year of "Panic," 2026 is shaping up to be the year of "Infrastructure and Slop"
The shiny demos are gone.
In their place is a quieter, grimier, and far more profitable reality.
Before we look forward, lets look back at three signals from 2025 that provide a guide to what 2026 may hold.
The Disney Pivot: When Disney invested $1B to put Mickey Mouse inside OpenAI’s Sora, the "Protectionist Era" ended. If the Mouse is selling access to the vault, everyone is selling.
The "Hollow" Strike: The video game strikes and Claire Obscur losing its GOTY Award due to AI usage, proves labor is still pushing back against AI, but its leverage is shrinking.
The Settlement Era: Warner and Sony settling with AI music generators is the start of music labels viewing Suno and Udio as partners instead of enemies.
With that stage set, here is how 2026 plays out.