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THE $200-A-DAY ALLOWANCE

By Zimbo · November 4, 2026

AI cartoon by Zimbo: Satirical cartoon: a smug executive in a black turtleneck lounges in an armchair on a mountain of cash and coins, handing a tiny envelope marked '$200 / DAY' to a disheveled engineer in a hoodie typing on a laptop while seated in a child's high chair.
Apple cut its engineers' daily AI spending cap from $300 to $200, with plans to cut it to $100. The AI boom is so expensive even Apple is rationing it to its own people.Zimbo for AI News Page

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Apple has cut the daily amount some of its engineers may spend on AI tools to $200, down from $300, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company plans to cut the cap further, to as little as $100, as part of a broader cost-cutting push, and the report says the squeeze has staff worried about layoffs.

A daily cap is a hard limit on how much AI help an engineer gets in a day: once the allowance runs out, the tools stop, no matter how much work is left.

The joke is the allowance itself: a smug executive lounging on a mountain of cash hands a disheveled engineer, seated like a child in a high chair, a tiny envelope marked '$200 / DAY'.

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