Microsoft cut its engineers off from AI because the bill got too big — why AI might not take your job after all

Everyone has been warning that AI is coming for your job, and that it’s just a matter of time. But that story glosses over how costly running AI can be — and those costs have the potential to slow or even stop what’s felt like an inevitable takeover.

Two developments shook things up this week. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) — the company that poured about $13 billion into OpenAI (1) and writes up to 30% of its own code using generative AI — reportedly told engineers (2) in a major division to stop using an AI coding tool because the bills got too big. And Uber’s (NYSE: UBER) chief technology officer said the company burned through its entire 2026 budget for Claude Code and Cursor in just four months, according to The Information (3).

Must Read

Sure enough, it sounds like the AI companies themselves are fully aware of the costs. Bryan Catanzaro, VP of Applied Deep Learning Research at Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) — the $5+ trillion company making the chips…