What changed
Apple has reduced the daily token budget for some engineers from $300 to $200, with further cuts potentially dropping to $100 a day and as low as $25 for some non-technical teams. Employees requiring more resources can request exceptions from management. The company also plans to shift some teams to cheaper models or AI that runs locally on devices.
What this means in practice
The changes align with Apple's new CEO John Ternus's push for a leaner company. Employees have access to services like Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Google's Gemini. Internal reactions are mixed, with some employees viewing the old limits as overly generous and others fearing the cost-cutting could lead to layoffs. Apple's R&D spending increased by 32 percent in fiscal year 2026, driven by higher infrastructure and AI costs.
Limitations and availability
The supplied announcement does not specify the exact impact on different teams or the timeline for further cuts. It also does not detail how the shift to cheaper models or local AI will affect specific workflows or hardware requirements. The changes are part of a broader trend among tech companies, including Microsoft, Tesla, Uber, and Meta, which have also capped internal AI spending.
