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Apple cut daily artificial-intelligence spending allowances for some engineers to $200 from $300 last month and is considering further reductions, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the changes.
Some engineering teams could see their caps fall to $100, according to Mark Gurman’s report. Apple has not publicly confirmed the changes and did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
For employees using AI to write code and handle other work, the reported changes would put tighter limits on usage spending, with larger allowances requiring approval.
Limits cover usage of outside AI models
The allowances cover tokens, the units of data processed by AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini. Coding work can consume large numbers of tokens, making engineers among the heaviest potential users.
A Reuters account of Bloomberg’s reporting said some non-engineering groups already have $100 daily limits that could be reduced to as little as $25. Employees who need more access would be able to seek exemptions from senior executives.
Cheaper models and on-device processing
MacRumors, also citing Bloomberg, said some teams were being asked to use cheaper models or move work to on-device AI.
Some employees told Bloomberg that few workers were using the full $300 daily allowance. If so, reducing the cap would not necessarily produce savings equal to the difference between the old and new limits.
The reported limits concern how much employees can spend on AI use, not a disclosed change to Apple’s consumer AI products. The company has not announced a total savings target tied to these allowances.
The unanswered business question is how the lower budgets would affect actual usage and productivity. A cap is a ceiling, not evidence of what each employee was spending, and the possible additional cuts remain unconfirmed.
JBizNews Desk | Cupertino
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