The blank-check AI coding era is dead. Here’s what comes next.

The New Stack · 3 weeks ago · 4 ● 4 sources

Microsoft has implemented AI token budgets across its divisions to control spending on GitHub Copilot and shifted to GPT-5.6 Sol as the default model, marking a shift from unlimited consumption to efficiency tracking. Employees at Microsoft can spend anywhere from hundreds to several thousand dollars monthly on tokens, with the company requiring spending discipline similar to other critical resources. This reflects an industry-wide trend as Uber, Amazon, Adobe, and others discover that increased AI tool adoption doesn't guarantee productivity gains, forcing companies to optimize for outcomes rather than token consumption.