Microsoft employees reveal how much cash they're burning on AI

Microsoft employees are self-reporting their AI tool usage and spending in an internal spreadsheet, revealing median AI usage of about $300 over 28 days, with the highest reported figure at $28,000, according to data viewed by Business Insider. The spreadsheet, which includes nearly 600 entries from U.S. employees, shows wide variation across teams and no meaningful correlation between higher AI usage and bigger raises, bonuses, or promotions. Microsoft confirmed the AI usage tracking tool is in early testing as the company spends hundreds of billions on AI infrastructure.

Microsoft https://www.businessinsider.com/category/microsoft employees aren't just comparing salaries https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-staff-share-pay-in-internal-spreadsheet-see-the-numbers-2026-8 this year, they're comparing how much AI they use. An internal spreadsheet viewed by Business Insider shows hundreds of employees voluntarily reporting not only their raises, bonuses, and stock awards, but also the dollar value of the AI tools they used over the past month. Microsoft is offering employees an internal tool to track their AI usage and spending. The figures offer a rare glimpse into how AI is being used inside Microsoft as the company races rivals, including Meta, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic, to build AI products. As the company spends hundreds of billions of dollars https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ai-capex-unchanged-data-centers-spending-tech-giants-2026-7 on AI infrastructure and pushes employees to weave AI into their daily work, the spreadsheet shows how usage varies dramatically across teams, from just a few dollars a month to tens of thousands. It also suggests that, at least for now, heavier AI use isn't translating into bigger raises, bonuses, or promotions. Microsoft isn't alone in trying to understand how employees use AI. Across Big Tech, companies are increasingly tracking AI consumption https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-use-tracking-jpmorgan-meta-kpmg-employees-tokenmaxxing-2026-5 as they spend billions building models and infrastructure. New to this year's spreadsheet was a column asking employees to self-report their "AI $ Usage Per Month" using the internal tool, which shows the dollar amount of their AI usage over the last 28 days. A Microsoft spokesperson said the AI usage tracking tool is still in early testing. The document had nearly 600 entries from US employees when Business Insider analyzed the data, showing how much the employees say they received this year in base pay, raises, cash bonuses, and stock awards. About 350 of them had reported their AI usage at the time. Of those reported, the median AI usage amount was about $300 over 28 days. The highest reported figure was $28,000 from an employee in the Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions organization. Business Insider's analysis excluded levels and teams with few entries. The data is self-reported and may contain errors. Self-reported AI usage among Microsoft employees | Org | No. of entries | Median AI usage, last 28 days | Range | Azure | 33 | $241 | $1 to $7,500 | Cloud + AI | 107 | $325 | $1 to $15,000 | CoreAI | 14 | $975 | $40 to $16,000 | Experiences and Devices | 69 | $250 | $1 to $3,391 | Microsoft AI | 15 | $490 | $45 to $10,000 | Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions | 25 | $134 | $1 to $28,000 | Security | 12 | $526 | $58 to $10,000 | Microsoft employees typically share this information voluntarily and anonymously to promote pay transparency, but that means the data isn't official or comprehensive. The company had 223,000 employees on June 30, so a spreadsheet with only around 350 figures on AI usage provides a very small snapshot. Business Insider found no meaningful correlation in the spreadsheet between reported AI usage and rewards. Higher AI usage did not appear to be associated with higher bonus ratings, merit increases, or a greater likelihood of promotion. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at astewart@businessinsider.com or Signal at +1-425-344-8242. Use a personal email address and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely .