“Most ordinary users still encounter AI through an app or feature, without seeing a token balance.”
China burns 500 trillion tokens a day, up from 100 billion in early 2024. Banks hand out 1.8 billion tokens with a credit card. A dumpling shop gives you 10 yuan of credits with dinner. One district lets banks judge a startup’s creditworthiness by its token throughput. When the product is that cheap to give away, the tokens aren’t the business. Getting you hooked on them is.