AI giants kick off a "token milk tea war" - 36Kr

OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek, and MiniMax are competing with lower Token prices, free credits, and richer quotas to win users.

Tokens are shifting from a billing unit into a tool for acquisition, retention, compensation, and bidding.

As agent usage grows and model gaps narrow, users can switch platforms more easily, pushing vendors toward subscriptions and packaged plans.

The race may decide who enters enterprise workflows first, but it also raises inference costs and pricing complexity.