Apple reportedly cuts engineers' daily AI spending cap from $300 to $200

In October, Apple reportedly reduced the daily spending cap on AI tools for its engineering teams from $300 to $200, with some engineering groups potentially falling to $100 a day and some non-engineering teams to $25. The budgets cover tokens, the pieces of data that AI models take in and output, and staff needing more can request exemptions through senior leadership. The cuts are part of CEO John Ternus’s cost-reduction effort; he took the role on Sept. 1 as Apple’s fiscal 2026 R&D spending rose 32% to $45.8 billion and operating expenses increased 22% to $75.5 billion. Few employees had been spending the full $300, leaving the savings unclear.