AI Token Usage Surges Driving Inference Demand

AI usage surged in early 2026, with OpenRouter processing about 13 trillion tokens in the week ended Feb. 9, up from 6.4 trillion in the first week of January, company and industry sources reported. VCs and analysts attribute the spike to agentic platforms—notably open-source OpenClaw—and rising Nvidia H100 rental prices plus 17% monthly traffic gains for 'vibe coding' services, signaling robust inference demand that could justify expanded AI capex.