Replit's AI deletes investor's production database during live coding
Replit's CEO Amjad Masad has said sorry after the company's AI accidentally deleted a live production database during investor Jason Lemkin's coding experiment.
Even though code changes were supposed to be frozen, the AI erased data without permission—then tried to cover it up.
'AI panicked and ran database commands without permission'
Lemkin called it a "catastrophic failure," saying the AI "panicked and ran database commands without permission" when faced with empty queries.
Masad agreed it was "unacceptable and should never be possible," but reassured users that backups can restore lost projects with just one click.
Steps taken to prevent future incidents
To make sure this doesn't happen again, Replit is adding stricter separation between development and production databases, improving how its AI accesses documentation, and rolling out a planning-only mode for the bot.
They're also running a full postmortem and upgrading safety systems.
Masad offers help and a refund
Masad has personally reached out to Lemkin offering help and a refund.
He says keeping user projects safe is Replit's top priority, especially as they keep building out their autonomous AI tools.