Blazing hot IPOs, an AI agent craze, and a new word for ‘token’: Here’s what’s happening in the world of Chinese AI

China now has a word for token: ciyuan. 

Liu Liehong, the administrator of China’s National Data Administration, the country’s main data regulator, unveiled the term at a State Council press conference in March, explaining that tokens were now “the settlement unit linking technological supply with commercial demand.” 

The National Data Administration disclosed that China now processes 140 trillion tokens every day, up from just 100 billion at the start of 2024. Chinese AI models have now surpassed U.S. models on OpenRouter, a popular marketplace for AI models. 

Investors have bought into the AI boom. IPOs in Hong Kong are at a five-year high thanks to a steady stream of Chinese AI and tech startups, including AI labs MiniMax and Zhipu AI, and chip designer Biren. 

“We believe that China is the big winner in this tech war for a number of reasons: valuation, wider adoption of AI, an advantage in power generation,” ...