The Information Machine

"Not all tokens are created equal, and there is a way to look at token value. There are two key factors that impact toke…

Rohan Paul Twitter · Rohan Paul (@rohanpaul_ai) · 2026-05-21

Rohan Paul argues that LLM token value is not uniform and is determined by two factors — the intelligence embedded in the token and its delivery speed — framing this as the foundation of 'tokenomics' tied to customer latency tolerance.

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Topics: llm-tokenomicstoken-valueinference-speedai-economics

Claims

  • Not all tokens in LLM outputs carry equal value.
  • Token value is determined by two key factors: the intelligence embedded in the token and how quickly it arrives.
  • Tokenomics in AI systems begins with understanding customer tolerance for latency and quality tradeoffs.

Key quotes

Not all tokens are created equal, and there is a way to look at token value. There are two key factors that impact token value. One is the intelligence embedded in the token, and the other is how fast does it arrive.
Tokenomics begins with the customer's tolerance