Amazon's AI Code Chaos: 90-Day Safety Reset Underway

Amazon has initiated a comprehensive 90-day code safety reset across its critical engineering systems. This strategic move aims to stabilize operations following a series of outages that impacted customer orders, some linked to AI-assisted coding tools.

The reset specifically targets approximately 335 Tier-1 systems, which have a direct influence on the customer retail experience. Engineers working on these critical components will now face enhanced scrutiny, requiring two separate reviews and thorough documentation before any code changes can be deployed.

This proactive measure follows significant disruptions, including a March 2 incident that led to millions of incorrect delivery times and lost orders. Another outage on March 5 also resulted in substantial order losses due to a production change deployed without proper approval.

The company is implementing temporary safety practices to introduce controlled friction into changes within its most important retail systems. This period combines AI-driven tools with more predictable, rules-based systems, alongside tightened reliability testing to ensure overall stability.