China named the official translation for tokens — the units of data processed by AI models — after its own currency, as Beijing looks to shape the rules of the AI economy.
By settling on ciyuan, Beijing ended a debate within China’s tech scene over the term: The move was “widely seen as devising a new form of global currency,” the South China Morning Post wrote, suggesting that China is looking to set the terms of the “token economy,” in which AI compute is a key commodity that dictates technological and economic power.
China has long looked to counter the US dollar’s dominance in international commerce; that push is also extending to digital realms.