China has begun developing an AI token futures market as part of its effort to compete with the United States in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence sector, according to reports from May 28.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange is currently at an early stage of creating futures contracts for so-called AI tokens—the smallest units of information processed by artificial intelligence models—according to the source material.
This new financial instrument enables companies using artificial intelligence to fix costs in advance and protect against sharp price increases. The United States is also developing similar tools for trading the computing power required for AI operations, while China aims to use AI tokens as standardized units that measure the amount of work performed by artificial intelligence when processing user requests.
China considers artificial intelligence one of its key economic sectors and has been actively increasing its capacity to operate AI services and train neural networks. Official data indicates that the volume of AI token usage has surged 1,000 times since early 2024, surpassing 140 trillion tokens per day by the end of March. Faced with heightened demand, China no longer has sufficient computing power and specialized chips for AI operations, leading to restrictions on user access by some services.
Authorities and market participants anticipate that these new financial instruments will help companies better plan their AI development costs and mitigate risks associated with sharp increases in technology expenses.
