Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (젠슨 황) has identified “tokens” as a core resource in the AI era, signalling a shift in how technology competition is measured. Nvidia has described tokens as the standard product made in an “AI factory,” meaning the minimum unit of data that AI models process or generate, not cryptocurrency. Huang likened tokens to oil, predicting output, price and efficiency will shape competitiveness. China is pursuing a power-plus-computing strategy to lower token production costs.

Moves by the AI industry to shift pricing policies toward pay-as-you-go models are accelerating. Some observers say that could raise costs for users. OpenAI has hinted it could change ChatGPT’s pricing structure, and SAP is also pushing to charge enterprise customers based on AI usage. With supply chains unstable, AI infrastructure prices are rising, and major cloud companies in China are also increasing costs. Competition among AI firms for enterprise customers is intensifying.