Sam Altman Warns of Rising Enterprise AI Token Costs

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated that artificial intelligence spending has suddenly become a huge issue for corporations in 2026. During a Tuesday enterprise event, Altman revealed that OpenAI's top internal token spender consumes approximately 100 billion tokens per month, though he noted an external user surpasses that figure. He highlighted the scale of growth by observing that the record usage from six and a half years ago is now roughly the global per capita average.

Altman noted a sharp shift since the beginning of the year, as companies now grapple with tokenmaxxing. This occurs when employees use expensive premium models for simple tasks, causing some firms to exhaust annual budgets within a few months. In response, executives at companies including Meta, Microsoft, Salesforce, and DoorDash are implementing controls to ration access and track usage more aggressively.

Specific corporate measures include Uber implementing token caps and Amazon shutting down its internal token leaderboard to tighten spending. Meta is working to reduce overlapping tools, while Microsoft has limited employee access to Anthropic's Claude Code in favor of internal assistants. Salesforce has introduced a system to link token expenditure directly to business outcomes. Altman indicated that OpenAI is seeking ways to provide more value for less spend as companies prioritize measurable business gains over raw usage.