[Ads-l] Words: tokenomics tokenomical tokenmaxxing thrift-maxxing

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Wall Street Journal neologism machine is experiencing tokenmania.

Website: Wall Street Journal
Article: Corporate America Has Suddenly Decided to Stop Blowing Money on AI
Authors: Angel Au-Yeung, Katherine Bindley and Tina Li
Timestamp: July 24, 2026 8:30 pm ET
https://www.wsj.com/business/china-us-ai-model-costs-53a12e96

[Begin excerpt]
The former investment banker was hired two months ago by Cursor, a
startup that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is buying for $60 billion, to be a
field chief technology officer. That means he advises companies on how
to measure and improve the returns on investment from their AI
spending. The startup calls it tokenomics, a reference to tokens, the
central unit used to measure AI usage.

Being economical--or tokenomical--is a dramatic reversal in mindset.
Just a few months ago, it was a badge of honor to be using AI so much
that you spent a lot on tokens. Companies rewarded employees for
tokenmaxxing, flashing leaderboards that showed who had spent the
most. Now they are thrift-maxxing.
[End excerpt]

Garson

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