Is half of China's AI compute being used to make AI junk content? The controversy over the 55% token figure
In June 2026, Chinese Online stated that AI short dramas and video generation accounted for 55% of China's AI token consumption, while software development accounted for only 15%. In October, this claim was widely circulated as "half of China's compute is being used to make AI junk content." ByteDance publicly rebutted this, saying that video generation accounts for only about 10% of its own compute; on Seedance, a 5-second 720p video consumes about 100,000 tokens. People's Daily, Southern Review, and The Beijing News all published articles questioning this simplistic comparison.
In June 2026, Chinese Online stated that AI short dramas and video generation accounted for 55% of China's AI token consumption, while software development accounted for only 15%. In October, this claim was widely circulated as "half of China's compute is being used to make AI junk content." ByteDance publicly rebutted this, saying that video generation accounts for only about 10% of its own compute; on Seedance, a 5-second 720p video consumes about 100,000 tokens. People's Daily, Southern Revie
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