Key takeaways
- Apple lowered the daily AI spending cap for some engineers from $300 to $200 and plans cuts to $100, while some teams outside engineering could drop to as little as $25 a day.
- The cuts come days after Apple closed the best year in its history, with R&D spending up 32% to $45.8 billion.
- My view: while the whole world talks about AI doubling what a person can do, Apple takes it away from its own people. With this attitude, Apple won’t get far.
Apple has cut the daily AI spending limit for some engineers from $300 to $200 and plans to go as low as $100, while some teams outside engineering could fall from $100 to just $25 a day. Anyone who needs more now has to ask senior leadership for an exception.
In this article: First a helper, then the shovel gets taken away · The best year in history, and Apple cuts everything it can · Apple doesn’t trust its own AI, but wants us to trust Siri · AI for us costs extra, AI for them gets rationed · FAQ
First a helper, then the shovel gets taken away
So, one of the richest companies on the planet gives you a helper at work. It thinks faster, it reasons faster, it really makes the work easier for the whole team, and the team gets more productive. Tim Cook himself stood in front of his employees and told them the company must use AI. And now we learn that Apple is cutting AI budgets for its own people. For God’s sake, from what we see, you make billions on storage alone, and you start cutting here?
It’s like giving a team digging a well three motorized shovels. Then the boss comes and says: from now on you get one shovel, we have to save. What on earth is this? At a time when everyone talks about how fast AI is moving and how a person can multiply their skills with it, Apple does the opposite. It takes it away and destroys it.
With this attitude and this kind of saving, Apple won’t get far. Remember my words. Companies already warn that in some sectors AI can replace people because it’s smarter. Apple swims against the current. It doesn’t let even its own people’s brains work properly, it’s already behind on every front, and now it wants to slow down all development even more. Maybe AI would help them find the way faster: how to make the iPhone Duo better, and not just a fragile chick.
The best year in history, and Apple cuts everything it can
How is this possible? We know Apple just had the most successful year in its entire history: $45.8 billion on research and development alone, 32% more than the year before. And Apple cuts everything it can. Even Bloomberg says it’s not clear how much Apple will save, because few employees were using the full $300 anyway.
The way I see it, we don’t know everything that is happening inside Apple. Maybe they know something will go wrong, or it’s already wrong, and they have to cut. First they went after the managers and sent them out. Then the team that had been developing the displays for years stepped back. And now AI. What the hell is this supposed to be? Ternus says Apple will now try to ship products faster. But it looks more like something bad is going on inside the company. This is the same direction I wrote about in my take on Ternus’s arrogance.
We know how Apple plays at secrets. When we want it to say something, we never get an answer. But in this direction, we’ll probably keep seeing weak or limited products, again and again, because the company doesn’t go along with AI, it goes against it. Or it will make some pointless thing and then defend it just as pointlessly.
Apple doesn’t trust its own AI, but wants us to trust Siri
Apple employees use Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman once said Apple is basically “running on Anthropic”. Siri’s new brain comes from Google. And now some teams are told to try cheaper models or ones that run locally on the device.
Seriously? You are the richest corporation, one of the biggest by market value, and you tell your people to try cheaper models? Fine, that alone isn’t even so ugly. But you know yourselves how far ahead this AI is, and you flatly refuse to invest and build your own. Or you have Siri AI, which you don’t even consider using for your own team, while you tell us how smart it is. You yourselves show the exact opposite: that the competition is better. If Apple’s own model were good enough, nobody inside Apple would need $300 of someone else’s AI a day.
Apple, for heaven’s sake, get rid of Ternus, if it’s not too late already. With technical gadgets alone, you won’t fool almost anyone. The world no longer develops as slowly as you were used to. Ternus likes to say he lives for technology and gadgets, but somebody has to tell him that the point of those words changed long ago, and today it looks completely different.
AI for us costs extra, AI for them gets rationed
On stage, AI is the future. For customers, I’m sure Siri’s agents will end up behind a paywall. Inside the company, AI is now a cost that needs a director’s signature. My guess: tokens are the first cut, not the last. Before WWDC 2027, we’ll read about layoffs at Apple, and this token cap will turn out to have been the first warning. Apple’s own employees already fear the same thing.
| Daily AI cap | Per working month (21 days) |
|---|---|
| $300 (before) | $6,300 |
| $200 (now, some engineers) | $4,200 |
| $100 (planned) | $2,100 |
| $25 (considered, some teams) | $525 |
Also on Evolt News: John Ternus and product arrogance · Siri AI agents and the security excuse · iPhone Duo cracks and Apple’s quiet admission
Featured image: Bernd Dittrich / Unsplash.
This article is opinion.
Apple employee AI budget cuts: FAQ
How much can Apple employees spend on AI per day?
According to Bloomberg, some engineers had their daily cap cut from $300 to $200, with further cuts to $100 planned. Many teams outside engineering have $100 a day, and Apple has considered $25 for some.
Which AI tools do Apple employees use?
Bloomberg reports that Apple employees have access to Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Why is Apple cutting employee AI budgets?
Bloomberg describes it as part of CEO John Ternus’s broader cost-cutting efforts. Some teams are also encouraged to use cheaper models or models that run locally on the device.
Can Apple employees get a higher AI allowance?
Yes. Employees who need more to do their jobs can ask senior leadership for an exception.
How much does Apple spend on research and development?
Apple spent $45.8 billion on R&D in fiscal 2026, up 32% from the year before, partly because of higher infrastructure and AI costs.
Are other companies limiting AI spending too?
Yes. Accenture reportedly reduced its centrally funded Claude allowance to $29 per employee per month.
I read this news on 9to5Mac.
Sources: Bloomberg, 9to5Mac, AppleInsider, Wccftech.
Our Take
The richest company in tech gave its people a helper that makes them faster, and now it takes it away in the same year it posted record numbers. The savings are small, so the signal is what matters.
To me, something is going wrong inside Apple, and with this attitude toward AI, the products will keep coming out weak or limited.
