Understanding AI Units In Box

An AI Unit is a standardized way to measure consumption of paid Box AI features. AI Units condense technical details, such as a token (small unit of text read by AI) counts and model latency into a single, easy-to-understand metric. The number of AI Units consumed depends on the action type and whether you select a Standard or Premium model.

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AI Units included

The initial number of AI Units is included in the license plan associated with your Box service account tier. The exact volume is specified in your Order Form. Consider the following when planning capacity:

• AI Units are monthly entitlements available for consumption each month. The total is comprised by the base entitlements included the Box license plan and additional entitlements purchased in the service order.
• Unused AI Units do not roll over to the next period.
• AI Units are purchased as a monthly volume within a recurring annual subscription.
• If you use multiple AI actions (for example, Q&A AI API and Text Gen AI API), AI Unit consumption is aggregated.
  • Ensure combined usage stays within your purchased entitlements.

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Monitor AI Unit usage

Only Admins have visibility into AI Unit consumption. To view current consumption against your monthly entitlement:

1. Go to the Admin Console.
2. Select Home > AI Insights.
3. Locate the AI Unit.

Users cannot see the organization’s overall entitlement. If the entitlement is exhausted, you receive an error message when you attempt to use a paid feature.

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AI Unit consumption

For information on how AI Units are consumed across Box AI APIs, agents, and Automate workflows, reference the Box AI Units consumption table.

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Non-chargeable features

The following features are only subject to daily AI limits:

• Box Agent
  • Including using Pro Mode
• Custom Agents in standard mode, not expanded mode
• Box Apps and Search
• Shield Auto-Classification
• MCP Partner Apps

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AI Units do not apply to free Box AI features, such as Box Agent in Standard Mode (not Expanded Mode).

Actions using the Box Agent or custom agent in Standard Mode do not count toward AI Units.

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What happens as you approach the limit

Box notifies admins at the following consumption thresholds:

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Nearing entitlement

• The admin sees a purple warning banner in the Admin Console.
• Recommended action: contact your account manager to purchase additional AI Units.

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At full entitlement:

• Paid AI features are blocked until the entitlement resets or you purchase additional units.
• The admin sees a persistent red banner in the Admin Console.
• The admin receives an email notification.
• Users see an error message when they attempt to use blocked features.

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Feature availability with entitlement reached

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Manage AI Units efficiently

Consider the following practices to optimize consumption.

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Choose models intentionally

Box offers two model tiers, each suited to different workloads:

• Standard models — optimized for speed and cost-efficiency. Best suited for bulk processing, basic Q&A, and summarization.
• Premium models — advanced reasoning capabilities, larger context windows, and complex tasks such as long document analysis and multi-step reasoning.

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Configure custom agents

• Set a maximum query length cap.
• Disable agents that are not actively used.
• Constrain agent scope, because fewer files means fewer AI Units consumed.

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Monitor proactively

• Review the AI Unit Insights card weekly.
• Identify heavy users through the User Activity Report.

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How the entitlement resets

The AI Unit entitlement resets monthly at the start of each calendar month. Unused monthly allotted AI Units do not roll over to the next month. If you purchase additional AI Units mid-month, access to blocked features is restored shortly after the purchase is processed. These purchased AI units carry over to the end of the order date.

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Purchase additional AI Units

To purchase additional AI Units, contact your Box account manager or the sales team at sales@box.com.

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Box AI Units FAQs