Atlassian has introduced monthly "AI wallets" capping how much each employee can spend on AI tools, in a move against the industry trend of "tokenmaxxing" – encouraging staff to use as much AI as possible, with some firms reportedly running leaderboards to reward heavy users. The shift comes as Atlassian recently cited AI as a factor in cutting 1,600 jobs, and highlights growing concern across the tech sector that unchecked AI spending is spiralling without corresponding productivity gains.

Under the scheme, research and development staff receive between $500 and $2,000 a month to spend across four AI products, including Claude Code, with usage paused once funds run out, though staff can request more and Atlassian is understood never to have refused such a request. By contrast, Uber reportedly exhausted its AI budget in just four months, while Amazon has told employees to stop using AI purely for its own sake. A June survey of 500 senior Australian staff found 80% feared high AI usage was being mistaken for productivity, and 32% had scaled back AI deployments due to cost, with analysts noting only 9% of Australian organisations currently impose any such spending limits.