Apple aims to attract more new developers by reducing AI infrastructure expenses, the company revealed during its developer keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. The tech giant announced that developers with fewer than 2 million first-time App Store downloads can access its Foundation Models via Private Cloud Compute at no cloud API cost. “It’s frontier-level intelligence with unmatched privacy protections, because exploring new ideas shouldn’t be limited by infrastructure expenses,” the presenter added. The “under 2 million” threshold is yet another way Apple is targeting indie developers, much like its Small Business Program, which offers reduced commission rates to smaller teams just getting started and not yet generating significant revenue. Apple also revealed that the Foundation Models framework will expand this year to support image inputs and server-based models. This enables the API to connect with developers’ preferred cloud model provider, making it as easy as possible to begin using a large cloud model for more demanding tasks, Apple said. The decision highlights an emerging truth in the AI sector: experimentation is no longer inexpensive. By eliminating infrastructure fees for smaller developers, Apple is marketing its models as a more affordable option for those who prefer to avoid extra cloud costs. And it’s not just small developers who are cutting back on expenses lately. Tech giants such as Meta and Amazon have shut down their internal AI token usage leaderboards, which previously turned model experimentation into a competition to see who could spend the most money. Uber has reportedly burned through its entire 2026 AI budget in only four months—an alarming development that some interpret as a wake-up call for greater financial discipline around AI investments. (Note: We may earn a small commission when you buy through links in our articles.) This has no impact on our editorial independence.
