APPLE CUTS DAILY AI SPENDING LIMITS FOR STAFF

Apple has reduced the daily budget its employees can spend on artificial intelligence tools, according to a Bloomberg report. The company lowered the daily AI spending cap for its engineering teams from $300 to $200 in October. Further reductions are planned, with some engineering allowances expected to fall to $100 a day. Outside engineering, Apple's other teams have faced a cap of $100 a day, which the company is now considering cutting to as low as $25 a day for some employees. Employees who require higher allowances can reportedly seek an exemption from Apple's senior leadership.

The daily limits apply to spending on AI tokens, the unit AI companies use to charge for usage based on the volume of tasks processed, such as writing or debugging software code. Apple employees have access to AI services including Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. Some teams are reportedly being directed towards cheaper models or AI systems that run locally on devices rather than relying on costlier cloud-based tools. The move comes despite Apple's continued expansion of AI use across its engineering processes and internal operations. Bloomberg first reported the changes on Wednesday.

Apple has not issued a public statement explaining the reasoning behind the reduced allowances. The change has reportedly been met with mixed reactions among staff. No timeline has been confirmed for when the further cuts to engineering and company-wide caps will take effect. The move reflects broader questions among technology firms over the cost of deploying generative AI tools at scale across large workforces.