Apple cut the daily amount its engineering teams can spend on AI from $300 to $200 per engineer in October, and further reductions are reportedly planned, according to TechCrunch, which on November 4, 2026 cited a Bloomberg report published that day. TechCrunch says it contacted Apple for comment, and the article includes no Apple statement.

What is reportedly being cut

  • Engineering teams: the daily cap fell from $300 to $200 per engineer in October, and some allowances are reportedly set to fall to $100 a day.
  • Staff outside engineering: Apple is reportedly considering a daily limit as low as $25.

What the article does not say

TechCrunch names no specific AI tools affected and gives no Apple-stated rationale for the cuts.

Context from TechCrunch

The article says that earlier in 2026 many companies pushed staff to use AI as much as possible for loosely defined efficiency gains, and that “the frenzy was short-lived, however, as bills for said tokens came due.” Companies then began to view token rationing as more financially sensible, it says, amid broader concerns about the gap between what AI costs to build and run and the often unclear productivity gains it produces.

Sources and notes

This post is based on TechCrunch’s report by Lucas Ropek (5:26 p.m. PST, November 4, 2026), which cites Bloomberg. Lens did not read Bloomberg’s report, so the figures are second-hand and have not been confirmed by Apple.

Image: an aerial view of Apple Park in Cupertino, California at sunset, by Nils Huenerfuerst via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0 1.0; cropped. Illustrative photo; it does not show the events described.