Apple has cut the daily AI spending cap for some of its engineers from $300 to $200, according to a report published November 4, and plans further reductions that could bring some engineering teams down to $100 a day. The first cut took effect last month, people familiar with the change said.
The limits extend beyond engineering. Many Apple employees outside engineering already work under a $100 daily cap, and Apple has considered lowering that to $25 for some teams. Employees who need more capacity can ask senior leaders for an exemption.
The budgets are measured in tokens, the units of data AI models process, and coding and debugging work consumes them quickly. Apple staff can use Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, and some teams are now being told to switch to cheaper models or to models that run on the device.
Key facts
- 01Apple cut the daily AI spending cap for some engineers from $300 to $200 last month.
- 02Further cuts could bring some engineering teams down to $100 a day.
- 03Many non-engineering staff already have a $100 daily cap; Apple has considered $25 for some teams.
- 04Staff use Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini, and some teams are being told to switch to cheaper or on-device models.
- 05Apple's R&D costs rose 32% in fiscal 2026; operating expenses rose 22% to $75.5 billion.
Apple declined to comment. The company is trimming usage allowances even as it pushes for wider use of AI across its operations.
Staff reaction is mixed. Some employees say few people used their full $300 allowance. Others read the cuts as part of broader cost cutting and worry about layoffs, after Apple cut more than 200 jobs in August.
The changes line up with the direction set by John Ternus, who became Apple CEO on September 1. Ternus has pushed the company to run faster and leaner and has removed layers of management, and some divisions have brought in outside consultants to review efficiency.
Apple's overall spending is still climbing. Research and development costs rose 32% in fiscal 2026 on higher infrastructure and AI costs, according to the company's annual report, and operating expenses rose 22% to $75.5 billion.
Apple is not the only large employer putting meters on AI tools. Microsoft set division-level AI budgets in July, Tesla caps staff at $200 a week, Uber limits each AI coding tool to $1,500 a month, and Accenture caps Claude at $29 a month. Goldman Sachs recently restricted access to some AI coding tools after a review of productivity and risk management.
If the planned reductions go through, some Apple engineering teams would work with a third of the $300 daily allowance they had until last month, and some non-engineering teams with $25 a day.
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