Token selling proves hard to monetize as Chinese AI infrastructure firms seek HK IPOs
Several Chinese AI infrastructure companies built around Token-based inference are heading to public markets, according to a 定焦One article republished by 36Kr: 九章云极 filed a Hong Kong Stock Exchange prospectus on September 29, 硅基流动 filed in late June, and 无问芯穹 reportedly filed confidentially in early October and announced a 2.3 billion yuan Series C on October 12, bringing cumulative funding to 4.3 billion yuan. The article says demand growth has not translated into profit: 硅基流动's 2025 revenue rose 653.2% to 55.33 million yuan while gross margin fell from 39.4% to -24%, with its Token-billed public cloud business at -119%, while more than 90% of 九章云极's 1.098 billion yuan 2025 revenue still came from intelligent computing infrastructure solutions. Citing National Data Administration figures, it says China's average daily Token calls grew from about 100 billion in early 2024 to 100 trillion by end-2025 and over 140 trillion in March 2026, even as price competition intensified and some models cut prices sharply.
The prospectus figures cited show that surging Token usage does not automatically become profit for inference providers — the metered public cloud business closest to the “Token factory” model is precisely where 硅基流动's gross margin is lowest.
一批靠“Token”做生意的公司，正在走向资本市场。
9月29日，AI基础设施服务商九章云极向港交所递交招股书，冲刺“智算新云第一股”。此前，AI推理服务商硅基流动也已于6月底递表港交所。10月初，据媒体报道，无问芯穹已秘密向港交所提交上市申请，同月12日，无问芯穹宣布完成23亿元C轮融资，累计融资达43亿元，公司称单轮及累计融资规模均创下中国AI原生基础设施赛道新高。
三家业务各有侧重，却都在押注与Token有关的生意。
Token（词元）是大模型处理信息的基本单位。用户向AI提出一个问题，模型理解输入、生成回答，都需要消耗Token。国家数据局数据显示，2024年初，我国日均Token调用量约为1000亿，到2025年底增长至100万亿，2026年3月进一步突破140万亿。短短两年多，日均调用量增长超过1000倍，仅2026年前三个月就增长了40%以上。