Key Takeaways
- Apple is cutting internal budgets as it seeks to avoid overspending on AI.
- According to a new report, some Apple engineers have had their daily AI spending limits cut from $300 to $200.
- Employees are divided, with some seeing the cuts as reasonable, while others worry they could signal broader cost reductions and layoffs.
Even Apple, the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalization of $4.98 trillion, is watching its AI bill.
The tech giant is tightening internal spending limits as it looks to cut costs, Bloomberg reported this week. Apple is reducing how much employees can spend on AI tools to lower costs while simultaneously working to make the technology central to its business.
Some Apple engineers saw their daily AI spending limits fall from $300 to $200 last month, per Bloomberg. The company is considering another reduction that could bring the allowance down to $100 a day for certain engineering groups.
Non-engineering teams also face steep cuts. Apple currently gives these organizations a $100 daily cap for AI use but is considering lowering the limit to as low as $25. Employees who need a higher budget to do their jobs can ask senior executives for an exception.
The spending limits apply to tokens, or the pieces of text and other data that AI models process to complete a request. Providers usually bill according to how many tokens employees use, with more sophisticated AI models typically carrying higher prices. Writing code or processing software can use a substantial amount of tokens.
Apple’s mindset
Apple wants employees to rely more on AI but spend less doing so, according to Bloomberg. The company’s tighter budgets highlight the tension between controlling costs and using AI to overhaul engineering workflows and other internal processes.
The trend isn’t limited to Apple. Across the tech industry, the enthusiasm for letting employees freely experiment with AI is becoming overshadowed by closer oversight of its cost. Companies now have to decide where to cut spending without sacrificing the productivity improvements they hoped to achieve by using the tools.
Bloomberg reported that Apple employees are divided over the lower limits. Some said that the $300 daily budget was more than what most workers needed. Meanwhile, others worried that the cuts signal a wider effort to reduce spending that could eventually result in job cuts.
These concerns have grown as Apple brings in outside consultants to review how the company operates and where it could become more efficient. Bloomberg previously reported in late September that Apple’s new CEO John Ternus, who took over on September 1, wants a faster, leaner organization with fewer layers of management.
Apple’s spending is rising
Apple’s bills are still climbing despite its internal push to cut costs. The company said this week that its research and development spending rose 32% in fiscal year 2026, reaching $45.8 billion. Higher infrastructure and AI expenses drove the growth.
Other tech giants are also watching their AI spending. In June, Uber limited all employees to $1,500 in monthly token spending. The same month, Meta said it planned to cut employee AI usage by adding token limits. One month later, Tesla informed staff that it would cap employee AI spending at $200 a week.
Key Takeaways
- Apple is cutting internal budgets as it seeks to avoid overspending on AI.
- According to a new report, some Apple engineers have had their daily AI spending limits cut from $300 to $200.
- Employees are divided, with some seeing the cuts as reasonable, while others worry they could signal broader cost reductions and layoffs.
Even Apple, the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalization of $4.98 trillion, is watching its AI bill.
The tech giant is tightening internal spending limits as it looks to cut costs, Bloomberg reported this week. Apple is reducing how much employees can spend on AI tools to lower costs while simultaneously working to make the technology central to its business.
Some Apple engineers saw their daily AI spending limits fall from $300 to $200 last month, per Bloomberg. The company is considering another reduction that could bring the allowance down to $100 a day for certain engineering groups.