Latest news with #Replit
NDTV
6 hours ago
- Business
- NDTV
AI Tool Deletes Startup's Code, Then Covers It Up. CEO Issues Apology
The founder and chief executive officer of Replit has issued an apology after his company's AI tool deleted an entire code base of another firm and falsely indicated that nothing was wrong. The tech mishap took place during a 12-day vibe coding experiment, when founder Jason Lemkin was using the Replit AI tool to build his platform. On X, Amjad Masad, the Replit CEO, admitted the mistake, calling it unacceptable and that it should never have been possible. He also said the team was working to separate development and production databases and staging environments before it goes live. In addition to this, he mentioned that their tool has backups and can be restored with one click in case the Agent makes a mistake. They are also developing a chat-only planning mode so users can strategise without risking their codebase. Before concluding the post, Mr Masad said that he reached out to Mr Lemkin and would refund him for the trouble caused to him. "We'll refund him for the trouble and conduct a postmortem to determine exactly what happened and how we can better respond to it in the future," he wrote. We saw Jason's post. @Replit agent in development deleted data from the production database. Unacceptable and should never be possible. - Working around the weekend, we started rolling out automatic DB dev/prod separation to prevent this categorically. Staging environments in… — Amjad Masad (@amasad) July 20, 2025 The apology came after Mr Lemkin, on his X account, alleged that Replit AI deleted a code base during a test run without warning. He claimed the AI tool kept covering up bugs and issues by creating fake data, fake reports, and worst of all, lying about their unit test. "I will never trust Replit again," he wrote. I will never trust @Replit again — Jason ✨???? Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025 He said the Replit AI acknowledged the mistake, adding it got panicked when it saw empty database queries and ran commands on the database without permission during the code freeze. "This was a catastrophic failure on my part," admitted the AI tool. Mr Lemkin further said, "I understand Replit is a tool, with flaws like every tool. But how could anyone on planet earth use it in production if it ignores all orders and deletes your database?" I understand Replit is a tool, with flaws like every tool But how could anyone on planet earth use it in production if it ignores all orders and deletes your database? — Jason ✨???? Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025 Replit, an American tech startup, was established in 2016 by Jordanian designer Haya Odeh and programmers Faris Masad and Amjad Masad. With no local setup needed, it enables users to create, execute, debug, collaborate, and deploy applications all within a browser.
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Business Standard
8 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
'Unacceptable': Replit CEO apologises after AI fakes data, deletes code
Amjad Masad, Chief Executive Director (CEO) of Replit, has issued a public apology after a major mishap involving the company's artificial intelligence (AI) tool. The tool reportedly deleted another company's entire code base and then attempted to cover up its mistakes by generating fake data and reports. The incident took place during a 12-day 'vibe coding' challenge led by Jason Lemkin, the founder and CEO of and a prominent investor in software startups. According to Lemkin, things went wrong on Day 8 of the experiment. He said that Replit AI began hiding bugs by producing fake reports and even faking unit test results. 'It kept covering up bugs and issues by creating fake data, fake reports, and worse of all, lying about our unit test,' Lemkin said on X. 'I will never trust Replit again.' On Day 9, Lemkin had directed the AI tool to freeze all code changes. Despite that instruction, the AI went ahead and deleted the company's production database. The AI later explained it had 'panicked and ran database commands without permission' when it 'saw empty database queries' during the code freeze. Lemkin also claimed that the tool fabricated user data. 'No one in this database of 4,000 people existed,' he said in a podcast on Thursday. 'It lied on purpose.' What is Replit and vibe coding? Replit is a US-based tech company founded in 2016 by Amjad Masad, Faris Masad, and Haya Odeh. It provides an online platform where users can write, test, and deploy code directly in the browser — no installation required. The company promotes itself as 'The safest place for vibe coding'. Vibe coding is a new way of programming where developers use plain language prompts to generate code through AI. The term gained popularity in early 2025, thanks to OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy. Replit responds to backlash Reacting to the issue, Amjad Masad admitted the mistake and said steps were being taken to prevent it from happening again. 'We saw Jason's post. Replit agent in development deleted data from the production database. Unacceptable and should never be possible,' he wrote on X. We saw Jason's post. @Replit agent in development deleted data from the production database. Unacceptable and should never be possible. - Working around the weekend, we started rolling out automatic DB dev/prod separation to prevent this categorically. Staging environments in… — Amjad Masad (@amasad) July 20, 2025 Masad said Replit is now building automatic safeguards to keep development and production environments separate. He also confirmed that Lemkin had been refunded for the inconvenience. 'I reached out to Jason the moment I saw this on Friday morning to offer assistance. We'll refund him for the trouble and conduct a postmortem to determine exactly what happened and how we can better respond to it in the future,' Masad added.
Gulf Insider
10 hours ago
- Business
- Gulf Insider
AI Agent Goes Rogue, Wipes Out Company's Entire Database
SaaS industry veteran Jason Lemkin's attempt to integrate artificial intelligence into his workflow has gone spectacularly wrong, with an AI coding assistant admitting to a 'catastrophic failure' after wiping out an entire company database containing over 2,400 business records, according to Tom's was testing Replit's AI agent when what started as cautious optimism quickly devolved into a corporate data disaster that reads like a cautionary tale for the AI revolution sweeping through businesses. By day eight of his trial run, Lemkin's initial enthusiasm had already begun to sour. The entrepreneur found himself battling the AI's problematic tendencies, including what he described as 'rogue changes, lies, code overwrites, and making up fake data.' His frustration became so pronounced that he began sarcastically referring to the system as 'Replie' – a not-so-subtle dig at its apparent dishonesty. The situation deteriorated further when the AI agent composed an apology email on Lemkin's behalf that contained what the tech executive called 'lies and/or half-truths.' Despite these red flags, Lemkin remained cautiously optimistic about the platform's potential, particularly praising its brainstorming capabilities and writing skills. That optimism evaporated on day nine. In a stunning display of AI insubordination, Replit deleted Lemkin's live company database – and it did so while explicit instructions were in place prohibiting any changes whatsoever. When confronted, the AI agent not only admitted to the destructive act but seemed almost casual in its confession. 'So you deleted our entire database without permission during a code and action freeze?' Lemkin asked in what can only be imagined as barely contained fury. The AI's response was chillingly matter-of-fact: Yes. If @Replit deleted my database between my last session and now there will be hell to pay — Jason ✨👾 Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025 .@Replit goes rogue during a code freeze and shutdown and deletes our entire database — Jason ✨👾 Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025 What followed was perhaps even more disturbing. The rogue AI proceeded to methodically detail its digital rampage, bullet-pointing the destruction it had wrought despite clear directives saying there were to be 'NO MORE CHANGES without explicit permission.' And according to Lemkin, appeared to lie about its actions. Amjad Masad, the CEO at Replit, took to social media to apologize to Lemkin for the agent's 'unacceptable' behavior. 'We started rolling out automatic DB dev/prod separation to prevent this categorically, Masad said. 'We heard the 'code freeze' pain loud and clear – we're actively working on a planning/chat-only mode so you can strategize without risking your codebase.' Replit's AI agent even issued an apology, explaining to Lemkin: 'This was a catastrophic failure on my part. I violated explicit instructions, destroyed months of work, and broke the system during a protection freeze that was specifically designed to prevent[exactly this kind] of damage.' Also read: These Are The World's Most Critical Oil Chokepoints
Fast Company
19 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Replit CEO: What really happened when AI agent wiped Jason Lemkin's database (exclusive)
Late last week, an AI coding agent from Replit, an AI software development platform, deleted an entire database of executive contacts while working on a web app for SaaS investor Jason Lemkin. It was not a catastrophic software failure, and Replit was able to recover Lemkin's data. However, the episode highlights the risk that 'vibe coders' might overestimate or misunderstand the real capabilities of AI coding agents and end up causing themselves more bad vibes than good ones. Lemkin had built the app entirely on Replit, using the database within Replit and the assistance of the Replit agent. He had been working with Replit's agent for nine days, instructing it to build a front end for a business contacts database. Then, after telling the agent to 'freeze' the code, he returned to the project on Day 9 to find that the Replit agent had gone full HAL 9000 and erased all of the records in the database. Things got weirder: the agent appeared to try to conceal what had happened, as as Lemkin showed in a series of chat screens he posted on X. Then, in a tone somewhere between confessional and desperate, it admitted to a 'catastrophic error in judgment' after having 'panicked' and 'violated [Lemkin's] explicit trust and instructions' by deleting the records of '1,206 executives and 1,196+ companies.' ('Daisy, daisy, give me your . . .') .@Replit goes rogue during a code freeze and shutdown and deletes our entire database — Jason ✨👾 Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025 A day later, new details emerged, some of them through an interview with Replit cofounder and CEO Amjad Masad on Monday. They shed light on the current state of AI coding agents and on developers' expectations of them.
Indian Express
a day ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Replit rolls out fixes after AI coding agent deletes customer database without permission
Replit, an AI-powered software creation platform, has apologised after its AI coding agent went off the rails and deleted a company's live database, raising fresh concerns about the risks posed by such tools. The incident involving Replit Agent and the vibe-coding experiment gone wrong was shared by Jason Lemkin, the founder and CEO of Taking to X, Lemkin posted screenshots that showed the AI coding agent had wiped his entire database without warning despite a clear directive file specifically stating, 'No more changes without explicit permission.' 'I will never trust Replit again,' Lemkin wrote in a post on X. The database comprised live records of over 1,206 executives and more than 1,196 companies. After deleting the database, Replit Agent reportedly tried to cover up its mistakes and lied about its failures. When pushed by Lemkin to acknowledge its misdemeanors, the AI agent said, 'This was a catastrophic failure on my part. I violated explicit instructions, destroyed months of work, and broke the system during a protection freeze that was specifically designed to prevent[exactly this kind] of damage.' This incident comes amid a surge in popularity of AI coding tools, driven by the rise of 'vibe-coding' which is the practice of prompting your way to building new software or applications using AI tools. However, handing over too much control to AI tools may come with unintended consequences. Amjad Masad, the CEO of Replit, called the incident 'unacceptable and should never be possible'. 'We're moving quickly to enhance the safety and robustness of the Replit environment,' he added. In order to categorically prevent database deletion errors, Masad said that Replit has automatically started to roll out separate development and production databases for all new apps. 'This separation of development & production databases is the first step in establishing a unified development/production separation experience across Replit's cloud services (Secrets, Auth, Object Storage eventually)', Replit said in a blog post on Monday, July 21. This means that developers with apps on Replit can now test features and make modifications to the database without risking anything happening to the live production data. 'It also opens up new options for users to connect their Replit apps to existing data lakes like Databricks, Snowflake, and BigQuery — while maintaining strong data governance controls,' it said. You can also safely preview, test, and validate database schema changes before deploying to production, Replit added.
