Technology · 2026-11-02 · Morning briefing

China reports AI usage now surpasses training data

Artificial intelligence systems in China are now generating more data than was used to train them, a first for the country according to a government-backed report. The China Centre for Information Industry Development noted that average daily token calls have exceeded 175 trillion, a 1,000-fold increase since the start of 2024.

Massive investment underpins this expansion. Capital expenditure on AI infrastructure by 13 major Chinese firms is projected to double this year to 932 billion yuan (US$139bn). The demand is tangible: Alibaba’s AI cloud revenue, for instance, surged 45% year-on-year to US$7.1bn in the quarter ending in June.

This spending has reshaped balance sheets. The combined free cash flow of tech giants Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu swung from a positive 170 billion yuan in 2025 to a negative 16 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, according to research firm Rhodium Group.

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• China Considers NVIDIA GPU Imports to Accelerate AI Development
• China's token prices double, usage triples amid AI application boom: report

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