- One of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms is turning AI usage into a product users can buy like mobile data
- Alibaba Cloud, Zhipu, Kimi and MiniMax are among the first models offered through Tmall’s new AI recharge center
Alibaba’s Tmall has launched an AI “recharge center,” allowing users to buy subscriptions and usage credits for leading Chinese AI models much like they would top up a mobile phone.
The AI Space Station, launched on September 3, initially offers products from Alibaba Cloud, Zhipu, Kimi and MiniMax, with plans ranging from recurring Token and coding subscriptions to pay-as-you-go credits.
Customers can receive access codes or have credits added directly to their accounts.
Zhipu opened its official Tmall flagship store a day earlier, selling packages including its Coding Plan.
Searches for large-model subscription services surged 40-fold on the first day of the store’s launch, according to financial and business news portal Jiemian, suggesting that AI subscriptions are beginning to enter mainstream e-commerce.
From API to shelf
A Token is the basic unit used by large AI models to process information. Every question, piece of generated code and AI-generated video consumes Tokens, although the amount varies by task.
Until now, most users accessed AI models through company websites or developer platforms, often requiring account registration and separate payment systems.
Tmall is turning those services into standardized retail products that can be bought alongside more familiar digital goods.
The shift comes as AI usage moves from free trials toward metered consumption.
China’s daily Token usage topped 140 trillion in March, up more than 1,000-fold in two years, according to industry data.
The rise of AI agents is also pushing consumption from individual conversations to longer, multi-step tasks, with a single task potentially using tens of thousands of Tokens.
That is turning Tokens into a cost that companies can no longer ignore.
Major tech companies including Tencent, ByteDance and Meta have tightened internal limits on employee AI usage in recent months, reflecting a broader shift toward what is increasingly being called the “Token accounting era.”
AI becomes a shelf product
Tmall’s move could lower the barrier to using paid AI services, particularly for individuals and smaller businesses that may not want to navigate developer platforms or APIs.
More importantly, it changes how AI is sold.
By putting access to multiple AI models on one e-commerce platform, Tmall is treating model usage less like a technical service and more like a consumer product.
It also gives model companies another customer-acquisition channel beyond their own apps and developer ecosystems.
The move could be an early sign of a broader transition: as AI usage becomes increasingly metered and commercialized, Tokens may become as familiar to users as mobile data.
AI is not yet a utility. But putting Tokens on a retail shelf brings it one step closer.
Header image generated by Doubao
