China’s National Data Administration says the country’s daily AI token consumption hit 140T in March 2026, up from 100T in December 2025 and 100B in early 2024 (Minxiao Chang/South China Morning Post)

Minxiao Chang / South China Morning Post: China’s National Data Administration says the country’s daily AI token consumption hit 140T in March 2026, up from 100T in December 2025 and 100B in early 2024 — Every month, a Beijing-based ByteDance employee says he burns through close to a billion units of a new corporate currency - one that cannot buy a coffee or pay rent.