For Korea's so-called 386 generation, "tokens" meant the coin-shaped bus fare pieces dropped into fare boxes. But in the artificial intelligence era, the word carries an entirely different meaning. Today, a token is the smallest unit through which large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT process text — and a form of computing resource that consumes massive semiconductor processing power and electricity.
The compensation systems symbolizing Silicon Valley's wealth have evolved from generous base salaries to stock options promising jackpot dreams, and then to restricted stock units (RSUs) offering guaranteed rewards. Recently, however, an entirely new form of compensation has emerged at the heart of global tech innovation: AI tokens.
"Fall Behind If You Don't Use AI Tokens" — Jensen Huang's New Talent Theory
The person who ignited this unusual debate is Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. He raised a provocative idea at the company's recent annual developer conference, GTC.
"If an engineer earning $500,000 (approximately 700 million won) is not consuming at least $250,000 worth of AI tokens, that is concerning," Huang said. "We should also consider providing engineers with tokens worth about half their base salary on top of their pay."
His reason for emphasizing computing resources rather than cash or stock is clear. The nature of work has shifted from "writing code directly" to "directing AI." As illustrated by the recently spotlighted open-source AI assistant OpenClaw, AI now spawns its own sub-agents to write code and fix bugs even while users sleep.
The top talent companies now seek is no longer the developer who types fastest. It is the "conductor" who manages numerous AI agents and leverages millions of tokens per day to produce overwhelming results. According to The New York Times, engineers at Meta and OpenAI compete on internal leaderboards over who consumes the most tokens. Token usage has become the badge that proves skill and productivity.
Tokens Worth Hundreds of Millions — Reward or Pressure?
