Foreign media: Sino-US AI Token profits are diverging in the application layer
Wall Street CN
3h ago
Ai Focus
Wall Street Journal reports, citing analysis, that the profit distribution in the Sino-US AI Token economies is diverging, with the United States leaning towards subscription-based monetization, while more of China's benefits are flowing to the application layer.
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华尔街见闻援引分析文章称,AI 产业链的利润分配正在随 Token 经济扩张而重排。中国市场调用量快速放大,但收入转化仍然偏慢;美国则在高资本开支和订阅体系支撑下,先把部分增量价值留在上游和软件端。

文章认为,当前利润兑现顺序已经较为清晰:上游算力先入账,中游模型价格持续下压,下游应用开始承接成本下降带来的空间。中美差异不只在技术能力,也在谁能把这部分价值真正留在报表里。

调用量增长未同步变现

中国日均 Token 调用量从 2024 年初约 1000 亿次,升至 2025 年底约 100 万亿次,但公有云 MaaS 全年收入仍只有约 30.7 亿元。文章提到,原因包括大量调用发生在大厂内部场景、外部交易价格被压低,以及应用层收费尚未全面转向按 Token 计价。

与收入规模不匹配的,是持续抬升的算力投入。文章称,截至 2026 年二季度,美股四大云厂商滚动 12 个月资本开支与经营现金流之比已升至 0.63 至 1.05,部分公司自由现金流明显承压,建设资金正更多依赖资本市场。

上游先承接稀缺溢价

文章认为,上游算力仍是当前最稳定的利润承接方。供给偏紧带来的稀缺溢价,直接推高了芯片和数据中心相关收入。以美国市场为例,瓶颈更多落在电力接入和数据中心容量,稀缺主要通过价格出清。

中国市场的约束则更多来自高端算力芯片供给。文章称,在出口管制背景下,新增需求推动国产替代加快,本土厂商在 AI 加速卡市场的份额已升至四成以上,新增算力也继续向“东数西算”等枢纽节点集中。

应用层开始承接红利

文章认为,中游模型正在快速商品化。随着开源模型持续追平能力差距,同档位 Token 的可替代性上升,竞争更直接落在价格上。达到 GPT-4 同等能力的调用价格,已被压到过去的约四十分之一。

在这一背景下,中游面临双重压力:成交价低于挂牌价,成本中又有较高折旧摊销占比,利润空间被持续压缩。文章判断,真正还能长期留住利润的环节,将更多转向两端:一端是依靠高利用率摊薄成本的算力供给方,另一端是能通过客户迁移成本维持议价能力的应用公司。

中美变现路径继续分化

文章称,美国市场更容易把 AI 增量价值沉淀进高价软件订阅体系,前沿模型能力可以被打包进现有 SaaS 产品,转化为持续收费。中国市场的软件付费意愿相对较低,中游厂商更常按算力成本定价,低价 Token 带来的红利因此更快流向应用层。

不过,红利流向应用层并不等于利润已经锁定。文章认为,决定下游能否真正留下利润的关键,在于是否形成足够高的替换成本,例如行业准入、数据对接沉淀、系统集成深度等。随着按 Token 或按结果计价逐步普及,应用公司的客户黏性和真实留存情况也会更快体现在季度数据中。

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