国家数据局今年3月正式确定Token的中文名称为“词元”，并将其定位为“智能时代的价值锚点”与“连接技术供给和商业需求的结算单位”。这一命名标志着词元正从技术概念迈向经济范畴。业内普遍认为，词元经济将成为智能经济新形态的核心载体，从产业链、定价模式、竞争格局等层面推动智能产业生态重塑。
词元是大模型处理信息的最小单元。用户在向大模型输入文字后，模型会将其拆解为一个个词元，再通过深度学习流程完成语义理解与内容生成。如果说字节是数字存储的计量单位、比特是信息传输的计量单位，那么词元就是人工智能运行的基本“燃料”。它的出现，让智力服务首次获得标准化计量单位，改变了以往按人天、按小时、按千字计价的方式，使智力成果能够剥离具体个人进行交易。
词元经济的扩张速度远超一般技术需求。据国家数据局披露，中国日均词元调用量已从2024年初的约1000亿跃升至2026年3月的140万亿，两年增长超过千倍。摩根大通预测，2025年至2030年中国词元消耗量年复合增长率将高达330%，五年增长400倍。这一指数级增长，被看作一条全新产业链加速成形的信号。
不过，词元经济不能简单类比传统能源经济。电力属于同质商品，而不同模型、不同任务场景下产出的词元，其“智能密度”并不相同。例如，金融风控决策中产出的词元，其价值含量远高于日常闲聊中的词元。因此，词元经济的定价逻辑不会止步于“按量计费”，而会逐步向“按质论价”演进，这也成为其区别于传统能源经济的深层特征。
如何让词元经济更好助力智能经济新形态？业内专家提出四个发力方向：一是以标准化计量破解产业痛点，为智力服务建立统一的“度量衡”；二是以新产业链条打通增长通道，推动上下游协同发展；三是以制度创新培育规范市场，完善数据治理与交易规则；四是以全球视野抢占战略先机，积极参与国际标准制定和产业分工。
词元经济的潜力也得到国际产业界关注。在英伟达GTC大会上，CEO黄仁勋提出“Token工厂经济学”概念，直言Token是“AI时代的硬通货”。从技术计量单位到数字新燃料，从工程概念到经济学范畴，词元正在全球范围内催生新的产业形态与商业模式。
从千亿到百万亿的日均调用量增长，词元经济已成不可忽视的新兴力量。随着标准化、产业化和制度建设的推进，词元经济有望打破传统智力服务的交易边界，成为智能时代经济增长的新引擎。未来，谁能率先建立词元经济的规则体系和产业生态，谁就有可能在下一轮全球智能经济竞争中赢得主动权。
In March this year, the National Data Administration officially designated "Token" as "Ciyuan" (word element) in Chinese, positioning it as "the value anchor of the intelligent era" and "the settlement unit connecting technological supply with business demand." This naming marks the transition of Ciyuan from a technical concept to an economic category. Industry insiders widely believe that the Ciyuan economy will become the core carrier of the new intelligent economic form, driving the reshaping of the intelligent industry ecosystem from aspects such as industrial chain, pricing models, and competitive landscape.
Ciyuan is the smallest unit of information processing in large models. When a user inputs text into a large model, the model breaks it down into individual Ciyuan units, which then undergo deep learning processes to complete semantic understanding and content generation. If bytes are the unit of digital storage and bits are the unit of information transmission, then Ciyuan is the basic "fuel" for artificial intelligence operations. Its emergence gives intellectual services a standardized unit of measurement for the first time, changing the previous pricing methods based on person-days, hours, or thousands of characters, and enabling intellectual outputs to be traded independently of specific individuals.
The expansion of the Ciyuan economy far exceeds ordinary technological demand. According to the National Data Administration, China's daily Ciyuan call volume has surged from approximately 100 billion in early 2024 to 140 trillion by March 2026, a more than thousandfold increase in two years. JPMorgan forecasts that China's Ciyuan consumption will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 330% from 2025 to 2030, a 400-fold increase over five years. This exponential growth is seen as a signal that a brand-new industrial chain is accelerating its formation.
However, the Ciyuan economy cannot be simply compared to the traditional energy economy. Electricity is a homogeneous commodity, whereas Ciyuan generated by different models and in different task scenarios have different "intelligence densities." For example, Ciyuan produced in financial risk control decisions carry far higher value than those generated in casual chitchat. Therefore, the pricing logic of the Ciyuan economy will not stop at "pay-per-volume" but will gradually evolve toward "pricing by quality," which is a deep-seated feature distinguishing it from the traditional energy economy.
How can the Ciyuan economy better empower the new intelligent economic form? Industry experts have proposed four directions: first, use standardized measurement to address industrial pain points and establish a unified "weights and measures" for intellectual services; second, build new industrial chains to open up growth channels and promote coordinated development of upstream and downstream; third, foster a standardized market through institutional innovation and improve data governance and trading rules; fourth, seize strategic opportunities from a global perspective and actively participate in the formulation of international standards and the global division of labor.
The potential of the Ciyuan economy has also drawn attention from the international industrial community. At the NVIDIA GTC conference, CEO Jensen Huang introduced the concept of "Token Factory Economics," calling Token the "hard currency of the AI era." From a technical measurement unit to digital new fuel, from an engineering concept to an economic category, Ciyuan is now giving rise to new industrial forms and business models worldwide.
With daily call volume surging from hundreds of billions to trillions, the Ciyuan economy has become an emerging force that cannot be ignored. As standardization, industrialization, and institutional development advance, the Ciyuan economy is expected to break the transaction boundaries of traditional intellectual services and become a new engine of economic growth in the intelligent era. In the future, whoever can first establish the rule system and industrial ecosystem of the Ciyuan economy will likely gain the upper hand in the next round of global intelligent economic competition.