The phrase “token apocalypse” is too painful. Costs are down 90%, yet spending has doubled—companies are only now realizing that AI isn’t free to use.

Crypto News Network reports that after only a few months of encouraging employees to use AI freely, companies quickly tightened spending, calling this phenomenon “token end of days.” As companies found that widespread adoption of AI could lead to high costs, consulting giant Accenture has started discouraging employees from using AI in day-to-day tasks. Although the cost of individual AI tokens has fallen by nearly 90% since 2023, total spending has still doubled. Research shows that AI deployment costs have become a concern for 58% of organizations, and some companies have exhausted their entire annual AI budgets in just four months.