Changchun's Jingyue High-Tech Zone has recently made a significant move with the official launch of the "FCN Future Computing Network." This platform is Jilin Province's first "AI Token Supermarket," and notably, the first of its kind in Northeast China.
In essence, it represents the first major platform in the region capable of centrally scheduling computing power from various locations, much like how water and electricity grids are managed. This development directly addresses a longstanding weakness in the Northeast's computing infrastructure. The platform is backed by a national major science facility and currently boasts a scheduling capacity of 106,000 petaflops already deployed in Changchun.
After registering and logging in, users can access computing resources with just one click in the console, making it as convenient as turning on a water tap. This resource is applicable and affordable for fields ranging from artificial intelligence, scientific research, and manufacturing to film production and agriculture. This "AI Token Supermarket" is already undergoing testing and is expected to be officially launched by the end of July.
To clarify the term "Token": In March of this year, the National Data Administration officially designated "词元" (Token) as the Chinese term. It can be understood as the "smallest unit" in the AI world. Similar to how utilities are billed per unit, AI services are charged based on the number of Tokens consumed. By March 2026, the national daily Token call volume had already exceeded 140 trillion.
An AI Token is the smallest unit of information processed by AI, previously known as "Token" and now officially named "词元" by the National Data Administration. It acts like an "atom" in the AI universe; every interaction with an AI consumes Tokens in the background. In technical terms, a Token is the smallest computational block after a large language model breaks down text or images, which could be a single character, punctuation mark, word root, or even a pixel block in an image.
Currently, it serves as the pricing benchmark and settlement unit for AI services. The more Tokens processed, the greater the computing power consumption and the higher the cost. The concept has gained significant traction recently, partly due to the explosive growth in daily Token usage, which increased over a thousandfold in two years, and the National Data Administration's push to integrate the Token economy into its operational framework. It is transforming from a technical term into a "universal currency" for the digital economy.
This "Token Supermarket" functions as a one-stop shop for large models. Users simply need to apply for an API Key to directly access services from multiple major AI models—selecting a model, paying the Token fee, and obtaining results is as straightforward as shopping in a supermarket.
With this initiative, Changchun has effectively leapt from being a peripheral node in the national computing power network to becoming a computing power scheduling hub for Northeast Asia. This is a substantial development for the entire Northeast region.
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