Apple has reportedly decided to cut the amount of money its employees spend on artificial intelligence tools. However, the company wants them to use more AI. What seems to be a contradicting decision but comes at a time when the tech giant is pushing its workforce to use AI more extensively to improve productivity.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is quietly reducing the daily spending limit for some engineers using AI models from $300 to $200 last month. The Cupertino-based firm is now reportedly considering further cuts that may offer the daily allowance for some engineering teams down to as little as $100.
The report adds that several teams outside engineering may also witness lower limits. Their existing daily allowance of $100 may potentially be reduced to just $25.
Apple To Cut Daily AI Spending Limits For Employees
This proposed change is expected to focus on employees using AI tools for tasks like writing software code, identifying errors and debugging applications. However, these activities can consume large amounts of data, increasing the cost of using AI services.
The budgets are also based on tokens, which are units of text and other data processed by AI models when responding to user requests. AI companies usually charge customers based on the number of tokens consumed. More powerful AI models also tend to be more expensive.
As per the report, spending cuts have received mixed reactions within Apple. Some employees believe the earlier $300 daily allowance was not required, as many workers were not using their entire budgets. However, others see the decision as a part of a bigger cost-cutting effort. The move has also raised concerns among employees about possible layoffs and restructuring within the company.
Reportedly, the employees who genuinely need higher spending limits will also be able to request exemptions from senior leaders.
