/While some companies are going all in on encouraging their employees to use AI, Apple is taking the opposite route. The iPhone maker is cutting what some engineers can spend on AI tools as part of a broader effort to rein in costs.
Bloomberg reports that Apple lowered the daily AI spending cap for some engineers by $100 to $200 in October.
Some Apple engineers are down to $200 a day for AI
Apple plans to further reduce the AI budget for some of its engineering teams, reducing their daily allowances to as little as $100. For some non-engineering teams, the company is considering reducing the limit to as low as $25.
Surprisingly, this push comes as Apple works on integrating AI into its engineering processes and internal operations to improve efficiency and productivity.
The move comes as Apple research and development expenses have surged by 32% in fiscal 2026 due to higher AI costs and infrastructure spending.
Apple asks some teams to use cheaper AI models
The Bloomberg report highlights that Apple provides its employees with several AI tools, including Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini. To cut down on AI costs, the company has now asked some teams to use less expensive models or run AI models locally.
“Reactions to the changes internally have been mixed. Some employees say that few workers were using their full $300 daily allowances, making the previous limits unnecessarily generous. Others see the reductions as a sign of broader cost cutting, adding to concerns about potential layoffs,” reveals the report.
While major tech companies went all in on token maxing, many of them are now trying to rein in their AI costs. This even includes tech giants such as Microsoft, Tesla, Uber and Meta.
Interestingly, this move comes as OpenAI and Anthropic keep cutting their API pricing with the launch of every new model.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
You can reach out to him at mail[at]rajeshpandey.me.
