SAP, one of the world’s biggest software companies, suspended most travel and hiring last month because of AI’s soaring cost, with exceptions only being made for AI-related travel or hires, according to an internal SAP email obtained by 404 Media. 

Bloomberg reported on the email and the freezes in July, but a current SAP employee said the bans are still in effect. The employee said the company had a global employee meeting recently where this was brought up again. They added SAP is currently rolling out a newly created AI tool to the entire company “which I can only imagine massively increases the costs.” 404 Media granted the source anonymity to protect them from retaliation.

The email highlights how companies both big and small are coming to grips with the reality of AI’s cost. Rather than being a massive cost saver, in some cases companies are throttling employees’ AI use as it spirals out of control, and scrambling to find other ways to keep costs down.

Do you work at a company dealing with AI's costs? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co.