(Yicai) Nov. 3 -- (Yicai) Nov. 3 -- Chinese universities are increasingly handing out free artificial intelligence tokens to cut students' computing costs as surging demand turns AI computing platforms into essential campus infrastructure.

Hefei's University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) was the first to announce a free daily allowance of 100 million tokens for every faculty member and student in the middle of this year, Yicai learned. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT) followed in September by opening free computing accounts for nearly 10,000 new students, while Shanghai's Tongji University began offering all faculty and students 100 million tokens a week last week.

The giveaways reflect a broader shift toward making AI a basic campus resource, much like libraries and computer labs, as universities invest in computing infrastructure to lower research costs and widen access to advanced technology.

Computing power could soon become as important to universities as libraries and sports facilities, according to Xue Lan, dean of Tsinghua University's Schwarzman College. Speaking at the recent University of Hong Kong Talent Forum in Beijing, he said computing platforms, large language model data centers, intelligent tutors, and high-performance networks may become the defining infrastructure of universities in the future.

Free token allowances help students cut the cost of running code and developing AI agents. USTC's daily allocation of 100 million tokens per person, which expires and resets each day, provides access to mainstream models including DeepSeek-V4, Zhipu AI's GLM5.2, and Alibaba's Qwen series. At market prices, the allowance is worth several dozen yuan (at least USD3) per student per day.

Universities Expand AI Computing Infrastructure

Beyond handing out free tokens, Chinese universities are investing in their own computing infrastructure to give students direct access to AI tools.

In September, BUPT launched its "Everyone Has Computing Power" platform, giving nearly 10,000 incoming undergraduate and graduate students free access to more than 10 LLMs and AI agents. Each student gets a dedicated virtual server they can configure independently, with AI models already installed and ready to use for tasks such as developing their own agents.

Some are going further. Shanghai Jiao Tong University has developed Zhiyuan No. 1, China's largest domestically developed university AI computing platform. Nanjing's Southeast University has established the country's first university-level AI computing center built entirely with domestic technology.

Sichuan University has also teamed up with telecoms giant China Unicom to construct a data center and a high-speed computing network connecting its four campuses.

Greater access to AI could also help students become more versatile, according to Li Hongyang, assistant dean of HKU's School of Computing and Data Science. He said the AI era demands talent who can combine technical expertise with business acumen.

Li encouraged young people to use LLMs to fill gaps in their knowledge and develop a broader range of skills.

Editor: Emmi Laine