Apple has lowered the amount some employees can spend each day on artificial intelligence tools, according to a Bloomberg News report published Wednesday. The change is part of a wider effort by the iPhone maker to control costs.
The report cited people familiar with the matter. It said Apple is cutting these budgets even as it seeks to expand the use of AI across its operations.
Last month, Apple reduced the daily AI spending allowance for some engineers from $300 to $200. That is a cut of about one third.
How the Daily Caps Could Shrink
The company is considering further reductions for some engineering teams, according to Bloomberg. Daily limits for those teams could fall to $100, which is half of the current $200 level.
Different groups inside Apple already face different limits. Some engineers now have a $200 daily allowance, while some non-engineering groups operate under a $100 daily cap.
The cap for those non-engineering groups could be lowered to as little as $25, the report said. A drop from $100 to $25 would be a 75% reduction.
For engineers, a move from the original $300 to $100 would cut their daily allowance by two thirds. The lowest possible cap of $25 would be one twelfth of what some engineers had before last month.
Employees who need more access to AI tools would be able to ask for exemptions. According to Bloomberg, those requests would go to senior executives.
The report did not include details on how many employees fall under each limit. It also did not give a timeline for any further cuts.
What the Budgets Pay For
The budgets cover AI “tokens.” Tokens are the units of data processed by AI models.
Models that use tokens include OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini. Each request sent to one of these models uses tokens, and costs rise as more data is processed.
Under a daily cap, an employee can only use a set dollar amount of tokens each day. Workers who need more than their limit would need to seek an exemption.
The report said the move reflects a broader trend among technology companies. Many firms first encouraged wide use of AI and are now looking more closely at the related expenses.
Apple is not the only large company to tighten AI usage. Bloomberg recently reported that Goldman Sachs restricted access to some AI coding tools.
That decision followed a review of productivity and risk management at the bank, according to the report. The restrictions applied to some AI coding tools rather than all AI services.
Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Bloomberg report. Reuters published its account of the report on November 4.
