Microsoft Employees Reveal How Much Cash They're Burning on AI - Business Insider

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. George Chan/Getty Images 2026-08-24T20:55:46.595Z Read in app Save Saved Listen to this story This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in . Microsoft employees aren't just comparing salaries 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 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 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. Explore BI Games Take a smarter break in your day - and see how far you get. Play now 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 .