Accenture launches AI spending cap after staff rack up $1,000 monthly bills

Accenture has blocked employees from spending more than $29 (£21.75) a month on AI after some members of staff racked up monthly bills of $1,000.

The consulting giant has introduced the cap to control runaway spending on AI, which has been fuelled by employees using the technology to complete a growing number of everyday tasks.

Companies are typically charged by AI companies based on their usage, similar to a utility bill.

Accenture’s $1,000 spending cap, which was first reported by 404 media, reflects a growing trend of companies attempting to restrict spiralling costs.

Anthropic’s Claude is one of the most popular AI tools for companies, largely thanks to its coding capabilities. However, its technology can also be set to autonomously carry out financial, legal or data analysis tasks.

As a result, bosses have increasingly encouraged staff to embrace AI, which has led to many using powerful chatbots to complete simple tasks.

Accenture executives complained this summer that office staff were routinely using AI to turn files into presentations.

Last week, some Accenture staff were told their access to Claude had been pulled entirely.

“Based on a review by your business leadership, it has been determined that your current role does not require a Claude license,” one employee wrote on an online forum.

Shares in Accenture have jumped over the past month, despite concerns that it risks losing business amid the AI boom.

Other technology giants have introduced caps on AI use despite a trend earlier this year that encouraged engineers to “tokenmax”.

Tokens are the essential building blocks of modern AI bots.

Uber capped engineering spending on Claude at $1,500 per month after burning through its AI budget in just four months. According to The Information, Microsoft has cut its spending on Claude by about a third.

The effort to rein in spending comes as Anthropic prepares for a public listing in the coming weeks, targeting a valuation as high as $2tn.

It was reported this week that Anthropic’s quarterly revenues had climbed as high as $17bn.

However, investors have since been considering a lower valuation for the company of about $1.5tn, according to Reuters, over suggestions its growth is slowing.

An Accenture spokesman told 404: “We make AI available to all our people. Our approach today is to provide the right tool for the right work, and we continue to invest in AI capabilities, skills and enablement that deliver greater value for clients and our own organisation.”