diff --git a/ai_core_api_client/api/ai_api.py b/ai_core_api_client/api/ai_api.py
index b97d001..2c7003e 100644
--- a/ai_core_api_client/api/ai_api.py
+++ b/ai_core_api_client/api/ai_api.py
@@ -27,22 +27,21 @@ from ai_core_api_client.rest import RESTResponseType
 
 
 def _record_usage_to_span(response) -> None:
-    """Record token usage from ai-core-api response as OTel span attributes."""
+    """Record token usage from ai-core-api response as a dedicated OTel span."""
     try:
         usage = getattr(response, 'usage', None)
         if usage is None:
             return
         from opentelemetry import trace
-        span = trace.get_current_span()
-        if not span.is_recording():
-            return
-        model = getattr(usage, 'model', None)
-        if model:
-            span.set_attribute("gen_ai.usage.model", model)
-        for attr in ('prompt_tokens', 'completion_tokens', 'total_tokens', 'cached_tokens'):
-            val = getattr(usage, attr, None)
-            if val is not None:
-                span.set_attribute(f"gen_ai.usage.{attr}", val)
+        tracer = trace.get_tracer("ai-core-api-client")
+        with tracer.start_as_current_span("ai_core_api_usage") as span:
+            model = getattr(usage, 'model', None)
+            if model:
+                span.set_attribute("gen_ai.usage.model", model)
+            for attr in ('prompt_tokens', 'completion_tokens', 'total_tokens', 'cached_tokens'):
+                val = getattr(usage, attr, None)
+                if val is not None:
+                    span.set_attribute(f"gen_ai.usage.{attr}", val)
     except Exception:
         pass