Microsoft cracks down on employee AI use after one worker spent $28,000 in 28 days — TechRadar

RESOLVING THE LEDGER

Some Microsoft workers were found spending $10,000 to $28,000 on AI tokens every month

The median is a much lower $300, but that's based off a tiny percentage of workers

Microsoft says AI usage should lead to meaningful outcomes

Some Microsoft workers are racking up some pretty hefty AI compute bills, with one of the company's workers from the Customer and Partner Solutions business spending $28,000 in tokens over a single 28-day period.

The figures, reported by Gadget Review , came from internal spreadsheets, which are used by workers to voluntarily share compensation information like salaries, bonuses and stock awards.

It's a spreadsheet which, in 2026, gained a new column for monthly AI usage, in which employees can track how much they spend in USD equivalent in terms of AI consumption.

Microsoft workers are using thousands in AI compute every month

Nearly 600 US workers reportedly contributed information to the spreadsheet, with around 350 of them sharing their AI usage figures. Importantly, the company employs more than 223,000 workers globally, participation was voluntary, and figures were self-reported, so the data shared by Gadget Review is not representative of all workers.

The median reported usage was also around $300 per employee per month, so the $28,000 figure is either an extreme or a mistake.

The data also shows how usage varies by Microsoft department, with the likes of CoreAI ($975) spending the highest median figure. Security ($526), Microsoft AI ($490), Cloud and AI ($325), Experiences and Devices ($250), Azure ($241) and Customer and Partner Solutions ($134) each have lower medians.

Similarly, those groups also saw large variations, with some workers spending up to $16,000 within CoreAI, $15,000 for Cloud and AI, and $10,000 for Security.

While the data doesn't provide an accurate overview, the company is said to be monitoring token consumption value more closely to track individuals who use large amounts of tokens. This comes after years of encouragement to incentivize workers to use AI.

The knock-on effect of that has been a trend dubbed 'tokenmaxxing', where users deliberately consume large amounts of tokens to become visible on tracking dashboards. It's a trend seen across the industry, including at Amazon .

"Tokenmaxxing is not what we are optimizing for," CoreAI EVP Jay Parikh previously said in an internal memo. "I want all of us focused on maximising outcomes that move the needle for our customers and our business."

Microsoft cracks down on employee AI use after one worker spent $28,000 in 28 days — TechRadar | AIPROPX