The Price of a Token II - Regulatory Perspective

With "The Price of a Token – Study II: Regulatory Perspective", AIGIS is publishing the second part of its research series on the actual conditions governing AI production and AI value creation.

While Study I examined the economic fundamentals behind an AI token, Study II turns its attention to the regulatory level. It explicitly does not argue the simple thesis that "more regulation" automatically creates worse conditions. What matters instead is which requirements actually apply to a specific use case – and how they change the scope for decisions that are economically and legally viable.

Although companies operate in the same global AI market, they do not necessarily have the same options. An international corporation can source compute capacity worldwide, distribute regulatory tasks across large organisations and use several providers in parallel. For SMEs, by contrast, fixed costs for compliance, contracts, audits and documentation of evidence weigh relatively more heavily. Public bodies, in turn, are subject to additional requirements arising from procurement, information security, protection needs and documentation.

This interplay becomes particularly evident where AI meets physical infrastructure. Data centres are subject to requirements on energy efficiency, metering, reporting, water, waste heat and technical minimum values. This makes regulation not only a question of market access but also a factor in location, investment and sourcing decisions.

Study II therefore also examines what happens when AI capacity continues to be used in Germany but the underlying compute infrastructure is built at another location. Productivity and application can remain in the country, while investment, operations, energy consumption and parts of the infrastructure value creation shift geographically.

A central finding of the study is therefore also a methodological limitation: the available data show clear differences in AI usage, capital availability, infrastructure and regulatory conditions – but they do not yet prove any relocation caused by regulation.

This is precisely where the AIGIS Research series comes in. Not with a ready-made answer, but with the question of which conclusions the available evidence actually permits.

Study II – Regulatory Perspective is now available at aigis.one.

AIGIS Research Studies – Evidence before conclusion.