A Beijing-based ByteDance employee reports using nearly a billion artificial intelligence tokens each month, yet says this amount does not place them among the top users in their department. The tokens, which are not real money and cannot be spent on everyday items like coffee or rent, serve as a corporate currency for accessing the company's AI tools. The employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that AI has become integrated into almost every task at work. This trend reflects a broader move by Chinese tech firms to create internal token systems that allocate AI computing resources among employees. Companies like ByteDance, which owns TikTok and other platforms, are investing heavily in AI development and giving workers access to large language models and other tools. The tokens track usage and help manage demand. While the employee did not specify what tasks they use AI for, such systems are common in tech companies where AI processing requires significant computational power. The rise of AI tokens highlights how tech giants are treating advanced AI as a resource to be metered and consumed, much like electricity or cloud storage. As AI becomes more central to business operations, these internal currencies may grow in importance.