The Narrative Re-Pricing of AI: When Execution Replaces Imagination

The CITIC report is a valuable artifact because it signals a maturation of the market's analytical framework. It is a move away from the 'grand narrative' and toward a 'structural audit.' The market is no longer asking for a story; it is asking for a balance sheet. The next narrative cycle will not be built on the promise of AGI, but on the proof of gross margin expansion. The question that will define the next 12 to 24 months is not whether AI will change the world, but whether the companies building it can change their own unit economics. Every token of compute is a vote for a future we haven't yet built, and the market is finally counting the votes. The signal to watch is not the next model release, but the next earnings call. The era of paying for imagination is over; the era of paying for execution has begun. The question is, who will pass the audit?