WSJ: Corporate America Suddenly Pulls Back AI Spending as Costs Balloon and Chinese Models Get a Look

WSJ reports enterprises are rationing AI use after some hit annual budgets in three months or watched costs double and triple, with corporate leaders now switching to lower-priced models — some built in China — to stem the bleeding. The piece cites Microsoft canceling most internal Claude Code licenses over cost, Uber's CTO going viral for burning the company's entire 2026 Claude Code budget in four months, and an unnamed company spending $500M on AI in a single month. The 6-hour HN thread (54 pts) frames it as the first mainstream cost-reckoning narrative on enterprise AI adoption.