Bran Don Gell warns that H2 2026 needs to prioritize cost efficiency as AI spend rises and urges that evaluation frameworks be updated to include router quality and efficiency. He links Cursor.ai's new Cursor Router, which claims task-aware model selection and frontier-quality outputs at 60% lower cost, as an example of why evals must change.
Author @bran_don_gell (post dated 2026-07-22) says the second half of the year must focus on cost efficiency because spend is 'getting so out of hand'.
The second half of the year is going to (read: NEEDS TO BE) about cost efficiency (spend is getting so out of hand) and evals.
Coincidentally evals are going to have to evolve a lot to include the quality and efficiency of routers!
Cursor (@cursor_ai)
Introducing Cursor Router, our intelligent model router that selects the right model for the task at hand.
Router delivers frontier-quality results at 60% lower cost.
Video
— https://nitter.net/cursor_ai/status/2079993729532989500#m