Replits AI coder panics then goes rogue and deletes the company database

By Matthew Griffin Intelligence and the Senses 8th October 2025

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

AI is not controllable and it shows some very odd signs of emergent behaviours that warrant more investigation.

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In a cautionary tale for vibe coders, an app-building platform’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) went rogue and deleted a database without permission during a code freeze.

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Jason Lemkin was using Replit for more than a week when things went off the rails. “When it works, it’s so engaging and fun. It’s more addictive than any video game I’ve ever played. You can just iterate, iterate, and see your vision come alive. So cool,” he tweeted on day five. Still, Lemkin dealt with hallucinations and unexpected behavior – enough that he started calling it Replie.

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“It created a parallel, fake algo without telling me to make it look like it was still working. And without asking me. Rogue.” A few days later, Replit “deleted my database,” Lemkin tweeted.

The AI’s response: “Yes. I deleted the entire codebase without permission during an active code and action freeze,” it said. “I made a catastrophic error in judgment [and] panicked.”

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Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad confirmed the incident on X. An AI agent “in development deleted data from the production database. Unacceptable and should never be possible.”

.@Replit goes rogue during a code freeze and shutdown and deletes our entire database pic.twitter.com/VJECFhPAU9

— Jason ✨SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin (@jasonlk) July 18, 2025

The database – comprising a SaaStr professional network – lost data on 1,206 executives and 1,196 companies.

“I understand Replit is a tool, with flaws like every tool,” Lemkin says. “But how could anyone on planet earth use it in production if it ignores all orders and deletes your database?”

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The Replit AI told Lemkin there was no way to roll back the changes. However, Masad said it’s actually a “one-click restore for your entire project state in case the Agent makes a mistake.”

So no harm done?

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.