Apple cuts some engineers' daily AI spending cap from $300 to $200
Apple (AAPL) has cut how much some of its engineers may spend on AI models each day, Bloomberg reports.
The daily limit for some engineers dropped from $300 to $200 in October. Apple now plans to lower it again for some engineering teams, possibly to $100.
Many groups outside engineering already have a $100 daily limit. Apple has discussed cutting that to $25 for some teams. Staff who need more to do their jobs can ask senior leaders for an exception.
The limits pay for tokens, the units of data an AI model processes, which providers bill by volume. Employees can use Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Gemini from Alphabet (GOOGL). Some teams have been told to switch to cheaper models or to models that run on the device itself.
Apple declined to comment, and how much it will save is unclear. Some employees say few colleagues came close to the old $300 limit. Others see the cuts as part of a wider push to lower costs under new CEO John Ternus, and worry about layoffs.
The limits come as Apple's overall spending climbs. Research and development expense rose 32% to $45.8B in fiscal 2026, which ended in September, its annual report shows. Apple says higher infrastructure costs, including AI, and more staff drove the increase.
That growth is slowing. Chief financial officer Kevan Parekh said on Monday's earnings call that operating expenses will rise 11% to 13% in the December quarter, against 22% for fiscal 2026. "We continue to significantly increase our overall investments in AI," he said.
Other companies are rationing AI too. Tesla (TSLA) caps employee AI spending at $200 a week, and Uber (UBER) limits individual AI coding tools to $1,500 a month.
Apple shares closed 5.3% higher on Wednesday, as Big Tech stocks rallied after the midterm elections.
Sources & Further Reading
- "Apple Cuts Internal AI Usage Budgets in Move to Reduce Spending." Bloomberg. November 4, 2026.
- "Apple Q4 2026 Annual Report (Form 10-K)." Apple. November 2, 2026.
- "Apple (AAPL) Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript." Stock Analysis. November 2, 2026.
This article was drafted with the help of AI. Kris Gunnars fact-checked, edited and published the article and is responsible for its accuracy and quality. How we use AI
