# 5G New Calling

The Token Toll: Can China’s Telecom Giants Pivot from Pipes to Intelligence?

Chinese telecommunications operators are attempting to pivot from data providers to AI service hubs by selling LLM Tokens, but they face significant pushback from developers over high costs and low utility. As a fierce price war consumes China's AI sector, the carriers are struggling to prove that their infrastructure-heavy approach can compete with more agile internet tech giants.