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Unlimited AI tokens aren't unlimited after all as US Army burns through supply
A little over a month after the Department of Defense (DOD) bragged that nearly half of its 3.5 million employees were using AI at work, members of the Armyβs Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) received an email informing them that they were burning through tokens, and needed to limit use.
βAlthough the Army CIO announced in May 2026 that they were offering unlimited tokens, by mid-June the Army CIO pool was exhausted of tokens and had to re-establish limits,β the email reads. The email goes on to say that although the Army has chosen to renew token usage at βits current levels,β itβs unclear βif the Army CIO pool will be renewed after 1 Oct.β
The Army uses Ask Sage, a multimodal generative AI platform where users can run different large language models (LLMs), including Alphabetβs Gemini, Metaβs Llama, and OpenAIβs ChatGPT. βApparently the whole Army burned through the whole year of tokens for just one service,β says an Army employee who spoke to WIRED anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Β© Carmen MartΓnez TorrΓ³n/Getty
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