Chinese AI firms sell model tokens at 50% off on Tmall for Nov 11

Putting model tokens on Tmall's Nov 11 shelf is the real signal here: Chinese AI labs are repackaging inference as consumer retail, complete with monthly cards and first-month discounts, rather than selling through developer platforms alone. The simultaneous participation of Zhipu, MiniMax, Alibaba Cloud, Qwen Office and Qoder suggests discounting is becoming a shared distribution tactic, not a one-off promotion. Whether this trains buyers to expect permanent markdowns on tokens, and whether card-based subscriptions stick after the event, is the open question worth watching.