Apple Cuts Internal AI Budgets for Engineers From $300 to $200 a Day
Apple lowered the daily AI spending allowance for its engineering teams from $300 to $200 in October, with some teams facing a $100 cap and non-engineering groups weighing a limit as low as $25 a day, Bloomberg reported. Engineers who need more for hard problems must request an extension from management, and the rest are being steered toward cheaper or locally hosted models.
The cuts land while Apple’s AI bill still climbs: research and development spending rose 32 percent to $45.8 billion in fiscal 2026 on higher infrastructure and AI costs, and operating expenses grew 22 percent to $75.5 billion as quarterly revenue rose 12 percent year over year. Apple is not alone: the report says Microsoft has revised internal quotas, Tesla limits staff to $200 a week, and Uber caps AI coding tools at $1,500 a month.
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