With the cost of using artificial intelligence continuing to rise, some companies are beginning to cut back on usage to manage expenses, and Uber is among them. The company has recently introduced internal usage limits to curb its high AI spending.

Uber's new policy stipulates that each employee has a monthly cap of $1,500 for AI usage fees per intelligent coding tool, including offerings like Claude Code from Anthropic and Cursor. The company stated that employees can monitor their consumption in real-time via an internal data dashboard, and special scenarios may allow for exceeding the limit with approval.

This move is not entirely unexpected. Previous reports indicated that Uber had encouraged employees to "use AI as much as possible" and even ranked departments on an internal leaderboard based on AI usage. Influenced by this policy, the company's Chief Technology Officer revealed in April that the ride-hailing giant had exhausted its annual AI budget in just four months.

Uber's Chief Operating Officer, Andrew MacDonald, has also recently questioned the actual efficiency gains from AI. In a podcast, he admitted it is difficult to pinpoint a direct link between AI usage and the launch of new products.

Uber's move to tighten AI spending reflects a common challenge across the broader technology industry: while companies continue to invest heavily in AI, the tangible return on that investment remains unclear. At this stage, the return on AI investment is still largely theoretical, with companies waiting for the promised benefits to materialize, and many are beginning to lose patience.