Glossary entry
In the Tokenomics Foundation's value classification, the costs that cannot be written in the unit of the baseline, such as tokens, GPU hours, power, licences and the labour to build and operate the platform. Together with a value claim it would be used to determine ROI. The Foundation describes it as work in progress.
Why it matters
It marks the boundary between a value claim and a return. It also overlaps with, but is not the same as, the seven-layer AI TCO framework used on this site.
Paraphrased from the Tokenomics Foundation's value classification (Release Candidate 2), licensed CC BY 4.0.
Three related terms. Total cost of ownership is the general idea for any technology. AI TCO is this site's application of it to AI, measured in the seven layers of the AI TCO Framework. Total Cost of AI is the Tokenomics Foundation's narrower, work-in-progress term for the costs set against a value claim when calculating return.
