In April 2026, Uber's engineering leadership discovered that a five-thousand-person team had burned through the company's entire annual AI budget in four months. Per-engineer token costs were running $500 to $2,000 a month, usage had doubled in eight weeks, and the company's COO admitted the surge in spend wasn't translating into proportionally better products (Forbes,Reuters). Uber was not an outlier. The FinOps Foundation's 2026 State of FinOps report found that 73% of enterprises exceeded their original AI cost projections this year, even as the price of a single token kept falling (TechCrunch).

That paradox, cheaper tokens and bigger bills, is exactly the terrain Meryem Arik has spent the last several years mapping. Meryem is Co-founder and CEO of Doubleword, a London-based inference platform that helps enterprises self-host open source and custom AI models (Doubleword), and she was recently interviewed by our Chief Editor, Fawn Hudgens, to talk through what she calls the "hot open weight summer": a moment when cost pressure and a jolt of geopolitical risk are forcing enterprise leaders to rethink how they buy intelligence, not just which model they buy.

On 30 July 2026, the European Commission opened a call to build up to seven AI Gigafactories, pairing €10 billion in public funding with an ambition to mobilise at least €20 billion in private investment. It is Brussels’ largest infrastructure push yet—and a reminder of how far Europe still has to go to secure the compute, cloud capacity and strategic options that advanced AI requires. European Commission | Reuters

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Ajinkya Malasane, Senior Director, AI Product Strategy at TELUS International, his thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

Growing up in a developing yet ambitious country like India I believe I would like to solve the problem of knowledge and information asymmetry using AI in scientific research and technology at the grassroots. This will level up skillset for large population to then contribute their creativity and hard work for faster and bigger technological advancements for humanity as a whole.

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Sasha Przybylski, Activator at The Knowledge Society (TKS), her thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

I would want to solve the problem of battery waste. In particular, I think AI has a lot of potential for dynamic cell balancing within an EV battery pack. This can help to optimize battery function, and can also make second life batteries more feasible. The main issue right now is that the batteries degrade at different rates, and so we need really complicated algorithms to be able to use those batteries in a second life. I think AI can help with a lot of different BMS functionalities, which would serve to help us navigate the fine line between battery failure and maximum performance.

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Fatih Nayebi, Vice President of Data & AI at ALDO Group, his thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

I would focus on combating climate change. This is an urgent issue impacting every corner of the globe, threatening biodiversity, human health, and economic stability. AI can play a pivotal role here, especially through its ability to analyze vast datasets—more than any human team could manage. By using AI, we can better predict weather patterns, optimize energy consumption, and even develop new, more efficient materials for capturing carbon dioxide.

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Raul Rodriguez, Vice President of Woxsen University, his thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

While AI can be a powerful tool, complex problems like climate change require a multifaceted approach. I'd propose an AI-powered platform facilitating global collaboration. This platform could:

• Aggregate and analyze real-time environmental data: Track emissions, resource depletion, and weather patterns
• Facilitate communication and resource sharing: Connect scientists, policymakers, and businesses to develop sustainable solutions
• Model and predict environmental impacts: Simulate scenarios with different policies and interventions

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Philip Alm, Founder and CEO of Norditech, his thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

Global water access.

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Alison Cossette, Founder of Patrun, her thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

I am driven to take on the problem of human contribution to AI models.

Ahead of World Summit AI Americas (24th-24th April 2024, Palais de congrès de Montréal, Montréal), we asked Yannick Lallement, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at Scotiabank, his thoughts on the future of AI.

If you could solve any global problem in the world with AI, what would it be and why?

Global warming should be the number one - not that AI is a solution for it on its own of course, but AI might contribute in many different ways.