Uber Caps AI Spending at $1,500 Per Employee as Soaring AI Usage Triggers Budget Reality Check

Uber is putting limits on employee use of AI coding tools after its spending on generative AI surged far beyond expectations, highlighting a growing challenge facing enterprises racing to adopt the technology.

According to Bloomberg, the ride-hailing giant has introduced a monthly cap of $1,500 per employee for each AI coding assistant, including popular tools such as Claude Code and Cursor.

Employees can monitor their usage through an internal dashboard, although exceptions can be approved in certain cases.

The move comes just months after Uber executives revealed that the company had exhausted its annual AI budget within the first four months of the year.

The spike was due to tokenmaxxing, meaning an internal push encouraging employees to use AI tools extensively, with usage even tracked on company leaderboards.

While companies continue to invest heavily in AI-powered software, many are beginning to scrutinise the costs associated with large-scale deployment.

Uber's leadership has also raised questions about whether rising AI expenditure is translating into measurable business outcomes. Speaking on a recent podcast, Uber President & COO Andrew Macdonald said it remains difficult to directly connect AI usage with the creation of new customer-facing features.