Chinese employees are increasingly forced to pay out of pocket for AI tools as companies, including giants like Alibaba and ByteDance, mandate AI adoption to boost efficiency. Workers like Long Shen, a front-end developer, find themselves spending significant portions of their salaries on AI tools such as Cursor and ChatGPT Plus to meet workplace demands, with little to no reimbursement from employers. The pressure to use AI extends across industries, with employees in sectors like automotive and state-owned enterprises facing similar challenges. Many workers, like Pengpeng in the R&D department of an automotive company, resort to using personal devices and funds to access AI tools, as company policies often block external AI websites. Despite the financial burden, employees continue to invest in AI to maintain job security and meet increasing performance expectations.