Companies are scrambling to curtail soaring AI costs https://www.economist.com/ Subscribe (https://www.economist.com/subscribe) • The Economist Pro (https://www.economist.com/pro) • Log in (https://www.economist.com/api/auth/login) • Menu https://www.economist.com/Skip to content (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/14/companies-are-scrambling-to-curtail-soaring-ai-costs#content) Subscribe (https://www.economist.com/subscribe) • The Economist Pro (https://www.economist.com/pro) • Log in (https://www.economist.com/api/auth/login) • Menu • • The world in brief (https://www.economist.com/the-world-in-brief) Catch up on global daily news 1843 (https://www.economist.com/topics/1843) Compelling long reads The World Ahead 2026 (https://www.economist.com/topics/the-world-ahead-2026) Future-gazing analysis, predictions and speculation Podcasts (https://www.economist.com/audio/podcasts) Tune into captivating conversations Video (https://www.economist.com/video) Watch engaging short films Insider (https://www.economist.com/insider) Behind the scenes at The Economist Newsletters (https://www.economist.com/newsletters) Curated news, direct to your inbox undefined undefined • Subscribe to The Economist Unlock unlimited access to all our award-winning journalism, subscriber-only podcasts and newsletters Subscribe to The Economist Unlock unlimited access to all our award-winning journalism, subscriber-only podcasts and newsletters Subscribe (https://www.economist.com/subscribe) • Business (https://www.economist.com/business) | Token reckoning Companies are scrambling to curtail soaring AI costs The rage for tokenmaxxing is coming to an end Share Illustration: Nick Little Jun 14th 2026|4 min read “I t’s going to be an absolute nightmare,” says an executive at a big American tech company. He is talking about an emerging problem for businesses that use artificial intelligence. AI agents—bots that can read, interpret and act—use masses of processing power and have started to run up huge bills. As they proliferate, the problem will grow. Big companies, the executive points out, typically use hundreds of software programs. If each of those offer agents (as they probably will), AI costs could easily spiral out of control. Already have an account?Log in (https://www.economist.com/api/auth/login?redirect=%252Fbusiness%252F2026%252F06%252F14%252Fcompanies-are-scrambling-to-curtail-soaring-ai-costs) Continue with a free trial Get full access to our independent journalism for free Free trial (https://subscribenow.economist.com/trial) Or create a free account to unlock just this article Create account (https://www.economist.com/api/auth/register?redirect=%252Fbusiness%252F2026%252F06%252F14%252Fcompanies-are-scrambling-to-curtail-soaring-ai-costs) Explore more • ShareReuse this content (https://s100.copyright.com/AppDispatchServlet?publisherName=economist&publication=economist&title=Companies%20are%20scrambling%20to%20curtail%20soaring%20AI%20costs%20%20&publicationDate=2026-06-14&contentID=%2Fcontent%2F3tldhv7e82bd819mhqc5casmtnjtpfi0&type=A&orderBeanReset=TRUE) • More from Business (https://www.economist.com/business) Donald Trump has cut off access to the world’s best AI model (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/14/donald-trump-has-cut-off-access-to-the-worlds-best-ai-model) America’s closest allies have been blocked from Anthropic’s Mythos The value of SpaceX rockets on its stock-market debut (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/12/the-value-of-spacex-rockets-on-its-stock-market-debut) Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire • Another new boss aims to fix the world’s biggest chocolate-maker (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/11/another-new-boss-aims-to-fix-the-worlds-biggest-chocolate-maker) Will Hein Schumacher’s turnaround plan for Barry Callebaut work? • Too many people are shockingly bad at prioritisation (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/11/too-many-people-are-shockingly-bad-at-prioritisation) Choosing where to focus is among the most important skills The world’s wealthy are migrating like never before (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/11/the-worlds-wealthy-are-migrating-like-never-before) A booming industry of advisers is easing their passage American capitalism is run by millionaires, not billionaires (https://www.economist.com/business/2026/06/10/american-capitalism-is-run-by-millionaires-not-billionaires) They hide in plain sight—and wield enormous power • •