Wuxi's Token Supermarket Cuts AI Costs for Local Businesses

Par Yao Xueqing, People's Daily

When Li Tao, software department supervisor at Sevice, a Jiangsu-based security technology company, opened Wuxi's AI industry service platform, he navigated straight to the "Token Supermarket" on the homepage. He logged into his account to check usage metrics and his remaining balance.

Sevice specializes in intelligent security, with software development as its core business. "Since last year, AI has handled 85 percent of our software development workflows," Li said. The company needs to purchase tokens from various large language model platforms, with fees calculated based on usage.

Initially, the company's demand for tokens was limited, and costs were almost negligible. But as computing needs grew rapidly, monthly expenses increased. Different large models offer distinct capabilities and applications, according to Li. Companies not only face rising costs, but also struggle to manage multiple accounts and switch between different models.

In May, Wuxi rolled out this city-level "Token Supermarket." Li visited the platform the very day it went live. Lined up on its virtual shelves were over 20 mainstream large models, covering nearly all those widely adopted by enterprises.

Thanks to the platform's centralized procurement, most offerings are available at favorable rates. Even more conveniently, users need only a single registered account to access different large models on demand.

The company immediately registered with the "Token Supermarket" and topped up its account. Li calculated that with a monthly recharge of 20,000 yuan ($2,963), more than 30 engineers can use 4 billion to 5 billion tokens. The complimentary concurrent-access benefit package has also enabled more than 30 employees to work efficiently in parallel.

As a result, the company has cut research and development costs by nearly 30 percent, shortened software development cycles from two weeks to less than one week, and increased efficiency by 50 percent.

Why did Wuxi launch such a platform, and what makes it unique?

According to Zhu Yiqing, deputy general manager of Wuxi Digital New Infrastructure Co., Ltd., which operates the platform, token usage is growing rapidly, yet companies still face high costs, complicated management of multiple AI accounts, and difficult expense tracking. The "Token Supermarket" was developed to provide a one-stop purchasing platform and has already served more than 50 enterprises.

Its customers include firms like Li's that purchase tokens for daily operations, as well as enterprises buying tokens as bulk raw materials for further processing and development.

Dramasmaker, a startup developing AI-powered animated storytelling production tools, is one such customer. Founded in August last year, the company spent more than six months independently developing a one-stop animation production system, which entered the testing and production phase this May, said General Manager Wei Jianfei.

Because the company requires large amounts of tokens, costs are high. During the early startup stage, this placed considerable pressure on cash flow, Wei noted.

Zhu added that the "Token Supermarket" can also be connected with financial services, with financial products soon to be integrated into the platform's payment system.

Notably, staff members are currently expanding the platform's virtual premises: alongside an existing "brand zone," a new "local-source offerings zone" has been launched.

According to Zhu, Wuxi's computing-power industry is developing rapidly, with 19 intelligent computing centers now operational, most of which deliver computing power for immediate sale.

Tokens generated by these intelligent computing centers are listed on the "Token Supermarket," offering cost-competitive options for users while bolstering the local computing sector and serving small and medium-sized enterprises.