KPMG Survey: Only 26% of Global Companies Can Fully Control AI Costs, Token Billing Leads to Sharp Budget Increases

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal on June 8, 2026, as AI services fully shift to a token-based billing model, global corporate finance departments are facing unprecedented budget management challenges.

Data from an unpublished survey by KPMG shows that currently only 26% of companies can fully understand their AI costs, while 50% of enterprises have very limited control over AI spending, and another 22% have no transparency at all, only learning about service usage after receiving bills.

Steve Chase, Global Head of AI at KPMG, pointed out that tokens, as a new resource experiencing exponential growth, are being consumed at a speed far exceeding corporate expectations. Several companies have already exhausted their annual AI budgets within just a few months, and some customers' token usage has even increased sixfold. Analysts compare this surge in AI spending to the cloud computing boom during the pandemic and predict that many CFOs will face quarterly shocks when dealing with large bills from providers such as Anthropic.