AI agents, small models and inference lead InfoQ's 2026 AI trends report
Annual report charts agents moving into production and a year defined by inference and AI evaluations
InfoQ's AI, machine learning and data engineering team has published its 2026 trends report, naming AI agents the year's dominant theme and charting a shift from large language models to small language models. The report calls 2026 the year of inference, tracks the rise of physical AI and notes growing attention to AI evaluations. It was compiled by InfoQ editors with guest Chip Huyen.