Apple cuts engineers’ daily AI budgets as it reins in spending

The Apple logo on the lid of a silver MacBook Pro.

Apple cut the daily AI spending cap for some engineers from $300 to $200 last month and plans further cuts, Bloomberg reports. It comes as CEO John Ternus pushes for a leaner Apple, while the company’s R&D costs rose 32% on AI and infrastructure.

Apple has cut how much some engineers can spend on AI models each day, from $300 to $200, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the change. It plans more cuts that could take some engineering teams down to $100 a day.

Many staff outside engineering already have a $100 daily cap, and Apple has considered lowering that to $25 for some teams. Employees who need more can ask senior leaders for an exemption. Apple declined to comment.

The budgets cover tokens, the units of data that AI models process. Writing and debugging code can use a lot of them. Apple staff can use Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, and some teams are being told to switch to cheaper models or ones that run on the device.

Reactions inside Apple are mixed, according to Bloomberg. Some staff say few people used their full $300 allowance. Others see the cuts as a sign of wider cost cutting and worry about layoffs, after Apple cut over 200 jobs in August.

Since becoming chief executive on 1 September, John Ternus has pushed Apple to run faster and leaner, and has cut layers of management. Some divisions have also hired outside consultants to review how efficiently they work.

Apple’s overall spending is still rising. Research and development costs rose 32% in its 2026 fiscal year on higher infrastructure and AI costs, the company said in its annual report this week. Operating expenses rose 22% to $75.5B.

Apple is not alone. Microsoft set division-level AI budgets in July, Tesla caps staff at $200 a week and Uber limits each AI coding tool to $1,500 a month. Accenture has gone further, capping Claude at $29 a month.

Across the industry, firms are capping staff AI use as their bills grow.

With expertise in digital marketing, product management, and branding & identity, Ana Maria Constantin develops strategies that resonate (show all) With expertise in digital marketing, product management, and branding & identity, Ana Maria Constantin develops strategies that resonate with our target audience in the software/SaaS industry. Collaboration and teamwork are paramount to her, as she loves empowering her colleagues to achieve outstanding results and unlock their full potential.

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