Apple has reportedly started cutting the amount some employees can spend on artificial intelligence tools each day, as the company looks to control costs while encouraging greater use of AI across its workforce.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple lowered the daily AI spending limit for some engineers from $300 to $200 in October. Further reductions are being considered, potentially bringing the allowance down to $100 for certain engineering teams.
The restrictions could be tighter elsewhere in the company. Some non-engineering groups already have a daily limit of $100, with Apple reportedly weighing a reduction to as little as $25 for selected teams. Employees who need additional AI access to complete their work can request an exception from senior executives.
The limits apply to the cost of using AI models for internal work, including software development and other tasks. Employees can access outside services such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, but heavy use of these systems can generate substantial charges based on how much information the models process.
Apple is also reportedly encouraging some teams to switch to less expensive AI models or run more tasks directly on devices. The move would allow employees to continue using AI while reducing the company’s reliance on paid cloud processing.
Importantly, a lower spending cap does not necessarily mean employees will use less AI. Bloomberg reports that some engineers were not coming close to their previous $300 daily allowance, suggesting the immediate savings from the changes may vary between teams.
The reductions come as Apple pursues a broader effort to simplify operations and control spending under CEO John Ternus. The company has also reportedly explored using AI to take over some customer support work, although a proposal affecting thousands of AppleCare positions was put on hold.
The reported employee limits are separate from the AI features Apple provides to customers. There is no indication that they change access to Apple Intelligence or Siri AI on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Still, Apple has acknowledged that cloud-based Siri AI requests carry running costs, making the expense of AI an increasingly important consideration both inside the company and across its consumer services.
