In a major shift for China’s digital economy, ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, and other tech giants are enabling employees to use artificial intelligence tokens—or ciyuan—as an internal currency to access and track AI services alongside traditional work resources.
- AI tokens now standard in employee workflows at major Chinese tech firms
- Token consumption in China exceeds 140 trillion annually, up sharply in two years
- Price battles among AI providers drive cheaper, broader adoption
What happened
Leading Chinese technology companies including ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent have introduced artificial intelligence tokens as a new internal corporate currency. Employees consume these tokens every time they use AI-powered tools for tasks ranging from coding to data analysis. This marked a departure from traditional fixed software subscriptions to a usage-based model where token consumption is directly tracked and billed.
This adoption coincides with aggressive price competition among AI providers like DeepSeek, which has significantly lowered token prices to encourage broader and deeper integration of AI across corporate workflows. For example, some employees at Tencent receive daily token quotas in the tens of millions, reflecting a high degree of internal AI deployment.
Why it matters
The rise of AI tokens signals a fundamental transformation in how Chinese companies budget, incentivize, and measure productivity related to artificial intelligence. Employees must now balance not only their time but also their token consumption, which effectively measures their AI fluency and integration of AI into daily work.
This token economy surpasses previous digital transitions such as the era of data and computing economies, marking the emergence of the token economy. The token-based system promotes transparent, scalable, and granular consumption tracking, creating incentives for optimizing AI use and reflecting broader ambitions to embed AI ubiquitously within business operations.
What to watch next
As token prices stabilize after initial deep discounts, Chinese companies will likely refine token allocation methods and internal policies related to AI usage, balancing cost control with expanding AI capabilities. Monitoring how firms develop these internal AI economies will reveal shifts in AI adoption maturity and workforce upskilling.
Additionally, data security concerns leading companies like Alibaba to restrict external AI tools indicate growing attention to governance around AI token use. Observing regulatory and corporate governance responses to these token-based models will be crucial to understanding the sustainability and future shape of this emerging AI token economy.