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The Global Trade Effects of the AI Infrastructure Boom February 13, 2026 François de Soyres, Alex Haag, Mike Liu andEva Van Leemput1 Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key driver of the global economic outlook, underscored by the unprecedented scale of announced investment commitments aimed at expanding AI-related infrastructure. The AI boom is also increasingly influencing international trade by boosting demand for critical inputs and intermediate goods needed to build data centers. This surge in AI-related investment has already supported international trade since early 2025, with strong demand for critical components boosting exports in key supplier economies. AI-related capital expenditure has accelerated sharply in recent years with newly announced projects pointing to a sustained and substantial buildout ahead. For example, U.S. data-center spending alone is expected to exceed half a trillion dollars in 2025. As documented in Haag (2025), the U.S. leads globally in terms of the AI infrastructure build-out and planned investments, followed by China, with other economies, notably Europe, lagging. The U.S. and China drove a massive expansion in AI-related computing ca…

China's DeepSeek developing its own AI chip, sources say If successful, DeepSeek's expansion into semiconductor development would mark a major strategic shift for a company widely hailed in China as the country's AI champion, potentially adding to challenges faced by Chinese tech giant Huawei.

A Token China Shock - by Michael W. Green A Token China Shock Revisiting AI Thermodynamics, a divergence in credit, and the real story on profits Michael W. Green Jun 28, 2026 ∙ Paid 148 67 12 Share Last week, I spent some time on what I got wrong. Let’s talk about some things I may have gotten right. First, there is a growing awareness that AI economics simply don’t work as discussed in xAirSupply . This is predictably causing two separate actions: Users are increasingly shifting to lower-cost Chinese models — with the national security implications underpriced but difficult to underwrite. US AI companies are retreating behind protectionist and anti-competitive measures, hoping to extract premium pricing for leading-edge models while shifting more casual users to lower-cost alternatives. The past week has seen articles proliferating, citing the growing usage of “near-frontier” Chinese models by users recognizing that for the vast majority of tasks, “pretty smart” is good enough: There are two sources of China’s cost advantage. First, “fast followers” have always benefited from rapidly changing technology, as the performance advantage of first movers comes at an extraordinary cost…

ByteDance Lifts AI Chip Spending 25% to $28 Billion, Boosting China's ... ByteDance is raising its 2026 AI infrastructure spending plan by 25% to 200 billion yuan ($27.6 billion), accelerating a strategic shift to procure more domestically-made chips. The move by the owner of TikTok and the popular Doubao chatbot intensifies the AI arms race in China and signals growing self-reliance amid U.S. tech restrictions. "Beijing has urged companies to favor domestic technology as it seeks to promote local chip-making capacity," noted a recent South China Morning Post report which first broke the story, citing people familiar with the matter. The new 200 billion yuan budget is a significant step up from the 160 billion yuan earmarked late last year. The increase is driven by both the high costs of memory chips and a deeper commitment to its AI businesses, which include China's most-downloaded AI chatbot for most of last year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. This massive investment will not only accelerate ByteDance's AI development but also provide a substantial boost to China's nascent high-performance chip sector. The pivot to domestic suppliers poses a direct challenge to the domin…

China Built The World's Fastest Supercomputer Without A ... - Forbes Money Investing China Built The World’s Fastest Supercomputer Without A Single GPU By Jon Markman , Contributor. Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Analyzing tech stocks through the prism of cultural change. Follow Author Jun 24, 2026, 05:30pm EDT --:-- / --:-- This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more . Summary China has reclaimed the title of world's fastest supercomputer with LineShine, achieving 2.198 exaflops and surpassing the US's El Capitan. Notably, LineShine operates without any Western GPUs, relying instead on 13.79 million domestic LX2 processors due to export controls. This brute-force approach, while setting a new speed record, comes at a high cost, consuming 42.2 megawatts. The article highlights that LineShine excels in traditional Linpack benchmarks for scientific simulations but lags significantly in mixed-precision AI benchmarks, where GPU-accelerated systems dominate. The real competition in the AI era is efficiency, measured by useful computation per watt, a metric where GPU-powered systems, p…

"Hard-Tech" Logic in China's Stock Market Faces Mid-Year Earnings Test As hardware technology stocks closely tied to AI computing power infrastructure continue to rally in China’s stock market, the STAR 50 Index (000688), which covers the country’s top local chip enterprises, has posted a staggering 64% gain this quarter—rivaling the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which includes Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron (MU). Surging global spending on AI computing by hyperscale cloud providers, combined with domestic policies fostering local tech champions, has jointly fueled this rally. At the same time, investor capital rotating out of A-share consumer and retail sectors has further amplified the strong performance of technology stocks. While there is little skepticism among investors regarding the long-term narrative of China’s technology supply chain, the sharp short-term share price surge has sparked concerns among some investors. As the earnings season kicks off with preliminary announcements, tech companies now face the test of justifying this rally. A fund manager at Hangzhou Xiyan Asset remarked that market sentiment is nearing a short-term peak, with strong growth expectations for m…

Alibaba shares rise after it lands major customer for its AI chips - CNBC In this article Alibabashares rose on Wednesday after Chinese state media reported that the e-commerce giant secured a major customer for its artificial intelligence chips. China Unicom will deploy Alibaba's AI accelerators from its semiconductor unit called Pingtouge or T-Head, according to a report from China state broadcaster CCTV. Alibaba does not sell chips directly, but companies can effectively use the computing power based on those semiconductors by buying Alibaba cloud services. A person familiar with the matter endorsed the accuracy of the CCTV report to CNBC. Alibaba was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Shares of Alibaba closed more than 5% higher in Hong Kong, and the company's U.S.-listed stock was up more than 2% in premarket trade. Alibaba's computing power will be used by China Unicom, the country's second-largest telecommunications company, as part of a big new data center project in China that will also include chips from other domestic firms including MetaX and Biren Technology. The move underscores China's efforts to boost the use of its own domestic se…

Where foreign capital fits in China's parallel tech system Featured Story Where foreign capital fits in China’s parallel tech system Darcy Song January 30, 2026 Save Article A recent visit by Top1000funds.com to Apollo Go’s robotaxi operation in Wuhan offered a ground-level view of how China is building a parallel technology system in response to US-led restrictions. The opportunity set across technology and especially AI adjacent industries is expanding exponentially, but governance and geopolitical constraints could make it hard for foreign asset owners to participate in the upside. Darcy Song reports. On the bustling streets of Wuhan, a white SUV looks slightly out of place. Not only because it’s diligently following the road rules in a city known for having some of the most unpredictable drivers in China where sudden lane changes and other high-risk manoeuvres are regular occurrences, but also because there’s no one behind the wheel. A closer look reveals two passengers lounging in the massage-enabled backseats experimenting with the in-car karaoke function. Later, the vehicle pulls into a designated parking spot near a dental clinic, its automatic door slides open to let the …

China’s ByteDance discovers new scaling law that could sustain AI boom Researchers at TikTok parent ByteDance have discovered a new scaling law governing how fast artificial intelligence agents can improve by performing real-world tasks, a finding that could help prolong the AI boom just as traditional development methods hit a wall. In a research paper published on Thursday, ByteDance’s Seed AI team revealed that AI agents – autonomous software that executes tasks on a human’s behalf – can double their learning speed every three months by interacting with...

China's Telecom Giants Bet on the 'Token Economy' to Drive Next-Gen ... Technology March 26, 2026 Source: NeTe China’s Telecom Giants Bet on the 'Token Economy' to Drive Next-Gen Growth China Mobile is transitioning to a 'Token-based' revenue model, aiming to double its computing income by 2030. This strategy leverages AI agents and cloud-integrated models to monetize the growing demand for AI inferencing across various sectors, including agriculture. Key Takeaways 1 China Mobile has successfully deployed AI-driven 'Raising Lobsters' applications to over 40,000 customers. 2 The company is officially adopting a 'Token-based' business model to monetize AI-related computing power. 3 A strategic target has been set to double computing revenue by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2030). 4 The sector is seeing a broader shift as China Telecom also pivots toward token-centric service delivery. 5 Infrastructure goals focus on a 'Agent-Token-Compute' link to streamline AI adoption for enterprise and retail users. Editor's Desk Strategic Analysis The pivot toward 'Token-based' operations marks the commoditization of artificial intelligence in the Chinese market. By treating tokens as the …

ByteDance plans up to $70B in capital spending for AI expansion ByteDance plans up to $70B in capital spending for AI expansion TikTok's parent company is raising its AI infrastructure budget by 25%, contributing to a massive wave of Chinese tech spending that could ripple into crypto markets. Share Add us on Google by Editorial Team May. 27, 2026 ByteDance just made its AI ambitions impossible to ignore. The parent company of TikTok and Douyin has raised its 2026 capital expenditure budget to roughly 200 billion yuan, approximately $30 billion, marking a 25% increase from its previous target of 160 billion yuan. That’s a staggering sum for a single company. But here’s the broader picture: Goldman Sachs estimates that China’s top internet firms will collectively pour over $70 billion into data centers in 2026 alone. That figure represents a 48% year-on-year jump. The chip race gets expensive A major chunk of ByteDance’s spending is going exactly where you’d expect: NVIDIA hardware. The company plans to invest around 100 billion yuan, roughly $14 billion, in NVIDIA AI chips this year. That’s a meaningful step up from the approximately 85 billion yuan it spent on the same chips in 2…

‘Token economy’ emerging as AI use soars in China: experts tell conference Chinese tech industry experts say the rapidly increasing use of AI tokens is giving rise to a token-based economy, with the tiny units underpinning artificial intelligence services evolving beyond a technical metric and into the basis for delivering and pricing AI services. “The [Chinese] digital economy has gone through the stages of the data economy and the computing economy. Today, the token economy is emerging,” Yin Hao, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Wednesday...

ByteDance plans over $30 billion for AI expansion, bets big on Chinese ... ByteDance plans over $30 billion for AI expansion, bets big on Chinese chips Matthias Bastian View the LinkedIn Profile of Matthias Bastian May 10, 2026 TikTok parent ByteDance is raising its planned AI infrastructure spending for 2026 to over 200 billion yuan (roughly $30 billion), the South China Morning Post reports . That's at least a 25 percent increase over an earlier plan of 160 billion yuan. The jump reflects ByteDance's growing AI ambitions and rising memory chip prices. The company is increasingly turning to Chinese chips to reduce geopolitical risks and meet Beijing's push for domestic semiconductors . ByteDance is also expanding its infrastructure abroad, including a $25 billion project in Thailand and an additional $1.2 billion data center in Finland. Still, the numbers are modest compared to US tech giants: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are collectively planning around $725 billion in AI spending for 2026, and that figure keeps climbing. Ad DEC_D_Incontent-1 Ad AI News Without the Hype – Curated by Humans Subscribe to THE DECODER for ad-free reading, a weekly AI newsletter, our exclusive…

Pony.ai and WeRide File Hong Kong IPOs as China's Robotaxi Market Takes Off AI (Artificial Intelligence) Pony.ai and WeRide File Hong Kong IPOs as China’s Robotaxi Market Takes... Pony.ai and WeRide File Hong Kong IPOs as China’s Robotaxi Market Takes Off October 30, 2025 Updated: October 29, 2025 By Jennifer L Two of China’s top driverless car companies, Pony.ai and WeRide, have applied to list their shares in Hong Kong. This marks a major step for China’s autonomous vehicle (AV) industry as it seeks global recognition and funding. The twin IPO filings show how far the country’s robotaxi and self-driving technologies have advanced, and how investors are beginning to take them seriously. IPO Details and Plans: Billions at Stake in the Driverless Race Pony.ai , based in Guangzhou, plans to offer around 42 million Class A shares in its global offering, including a small portion to Hong Kong retail investors. The company’s maximum offer price is about HK$180 (roughly US$23) per share, which could value it at more than US$10 billion. WeRide , also based in Guangzhou, aims to issue about 88 million shares at up to HK$35 each. Its total valuation could reach several billion dollars, dep…

ByteDance Plans $23 Billion AI Infrastructure Investment for 2026 ... 📰 AI News ByteDance Plans $23 Billion AI Infrastructure Investment for 2026: TikTok Parent Company Doubles Down on AI Chips and Model Development 2026-01-30 • 9 min ByteDance just announced they're dropping $23 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. That's billion with a B. To put that in perspective, that's more than most countries spend on their entire technology sectors. The TikTok parent company has preliminary plans for capital expenditure of 160 billion yuan ($22.74 billion) dedicated to building artificial intelligence infrastructure. About half—roughly $11-12 billion—will go directly to acquiring advanced semiconductors. This is China saying "your chip restrictions don't matter" in the most expensive way possible. ByteDance 2026 AI Investment Breakdown 160 billion yuan ($23B) - Total AI infrastructure capex ~$11-12 billion - Advanced semiconductor acquisition Doubao 2.0 - Next-gen large language model launch planned Seeddream 5.0 - New image generation model Seeddance 2.0 - Enhanced video generation model The Chip Strategy is Fascinating Half the budget going to chips tells you everything. ByteDance knows…

140 Trillion a Day: The Token Economy China Is Building 140 Trillion a Day: The Token Economy China Is Building How a billing concept became the center of China’s AI economy. Poe Zhao Apr 03, 2026 ∙ Paid 16 10 9 Share On March 22, at the China Development Forum in Beijing, Liu Liehong, director of China’s National Data Administration, gave tokens an official Chinese name : 词元, pronounced cíyuán , a compound meaning “word-unit.” He then went further. Tokens, Liu declared, are “the value anchor of the intelligent era” and “the settlement unit connecting technology supply with commercial demand.” Two days later, at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Liu disclosed the latest figure. China’s daily token consumption had reached 140 trillion . In early 2024, the number was 100 billion. Growth over two years exceeded a thousand-fold. During the week of March 16, Chinese AI models consumed 7.36 trillion tokens on OpenRouter alone , accounting for 36 percent of the platform’s global volume and surpassing American models for the third consecutive week. No other government has taken this step. Tokens are a concept from machine learning engineering. They measure h…

(EDITORIAL from Korea JoongAng Daily on July 10) | Yonhap News Agency Korea's AI ambitions face a crucial three-year test A recent three-part series by the JoongAng Ilbo, "Peace Odyssey: On the Frontlines of China's AI Revolution," offered a vivid look into how Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) firms are progressing despite U.S. sanctions. The Shanghai-Hangzhou corridor — dubbed China's Silicon Valley — is now home to a growing number of innovative companies eyeing the global market. In Hangzhou, China, tech giant Alibaba has become a near-invisible presence, powering everyday life through mobile payments, online retail and cloud services. The oft-heard phrase, "Chinese citizens don't fear leaving their wallet at home — they fear their phone battery dying," captures this transformation. China now ranks second globally in AI, trailing only the United States. According to last year's Global AI Index, published by Tortoise Media in Britain, China scored 53.88 out of 100, while the United States earned a perfect score. Despite the gap, China's rapid growth suggests it may soon close the distance. In January, a company called DeepSeek stunned the AI world by open sourcing a reasonin…

Blazing hot IPOs, an AI agent craze, and a new word for 'token' - Fortune China now has a word for token: ciyuan . Recommended Video Liu Liehong, the administrator of China’s National Data Administration, the country’s main data regulator, unveiled the term at a State Council press conference in March, explaining that tokens were now “the settlement unit linking technological supply with commercial demand.” The National Data Administration disclosed that China now processes 140 trillion tokens every day, up from just 100 billion at the start of 2024 . Chinese AI models have now surpassed U.S. models on OpenRouter, a popular marketplace for AI models. Investors have bought into the AI boom. IPOs in Hong Kong are at a five-year high thanks to a steady stream of Chinese AI and tech startups, including AI labs MiniMax and Zhipu AI, and chip designer Biren. “We believe that China is the big winner in this tech war for a number of reasons: valuation, wider adoption of AI, an advantage in power generation,” Mohit Kumar, Jefferies’ global macro strategist, told Fortune in mid-March at the bank’s Asia Forum in Hong Kong. China’s goal is now to build a “token economy,” backed by a prolifera…

AI to drive growth despite geopolitics, Foxconn says - RTÉ Updated / Monday, 16 Mar 2026 09:24 Taiwan's Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn said today it expected the booming market for artificial intelligence servers to drive growth this year, despite volatility caused by global conflict. Strong demand for AI hardware fuelled a 24% annual net profit jump last year for Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer. Energy markets have been roiled by the war in the Middle East, raising concerns for big tech manufacturers, but company chairman Young Liu struck an upbeat tone at an earnings call with analysts. "Over the past few months, there have been significant changes in tariffs, geopolitics, and global monetary policy," he said. "However, driven by the strong growth of AI servers, I believe 2026 will still be a very good year, and we expect to see robust growth," he added. Foxconn - also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry - has gone beyond assembling low-margin Apple iPhones to making AI servers for Nvidia along with electric vehicles and robotics. It is a move that …

What is China's AI Strategy in 2026? A Comprehensive Analysis of Models ... China’s daily AI token usage surpassed 140 trillion in March 2026. That’s up from 100 billion at the start of 2024 — a more than 1,000-fold increase in two years. On OpenRouter, the world’s largest AI model API aggregation platform, Chinese models accounted for 61% of total token consumption among the platform’s top ten models in February 2026. During the week of 16–22 February, Chinese models processed 5.16 trillion tokens on the platform, compared to 2.7 trillion for US models. Four of the top five most-used models globally were Chinese. These aren’t projections. They’re usage metrics published by China’s National Data Administration at the China Development Forum in March 2026, and confirmed by third-party platform data. China’s AI industry has moved past the demonstration phase and into a deployment pattern that, by volume at least, now exceeds the United States. The question that everyone outside China keeps asking is the same one: how? How did a country cut off from the world’s most advanced AI chips build models that compete with — and in some cases outperform — the products of labs spending ten to …

China's DeepSeek Shock Raises A Big Economic Question - Forbes Asia China’s DeepSeek Shock Raises A Big Economic Question By William Pesek , Senior Contributor. Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about economics, markets and policymaking throughout Asia. Follow Author Jan 30, 2025, 12:48pm EST The DeepSeek app seen on a phone in front of a flag of China. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images The economic hardware/software debate about China just got more complicated. Before DeepSeek flipped the script on the artificial intelligence game, many economists worried China had way too much of the former and not enough of the latter. Years of building low-vacancy skyscrapers, six-lane highways, white-elephant stadiums and apartment complexes that developers can’t complete left China with dueling crises in property and local-government finances. Yet the economic software — innovation that generates major disruption — has too often lagged the nation’s infrastructure boom. Enter startup DeepSeek to turn the conventional wisdom on its head. The success of its cost-effective AI model using less advanced chips rocked the tech world. The wild plunge in Nvidia’s sh…