How Amazon’s AI Bets Reframe The Tokenmaxxing Debate
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🔍 Read the full analysis: How Amazon’s AI Bets Reframe The Tokenmaxxing Debate on ThorstenMeyerAI.com

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TL;DR

Amazon published engineering guidance on Oct. 27 saying token use and other AI activity measures should not be performance targets. The memo says such metrics can track adoption but may increase costs and complexity when treated as goals; Amazon’s mixed results with its Nova models and Anthropic investment illustrate the wider stakes. Details on the company’s third-quarter results were not yet available in the source material.

Amazon on Oct. 27 published new guidance for its software engineers saying that **AI token use, tool adoption and code volume should not be treated as performance targets**. The memo, written by senior engineering leaders, argues that activity metrics can raise costs and complexity when they displace customer and business outcomes—a debate sharpened by reports of token-focused leaderboards and the different results of Amazon’s own Nova models and its investment in Anthropic.The guidance was published on Amazon’s news site and introduces a revised role guideline for software engineers. It says performance should be anchored in impact on **customers, the business and teams**, rather than how much AI an employee uses. The document does not set out a permanent AI-specific job definition, saying that rules written now could quickly become outdated as tools change. The memo describes token use, AI adoption, code changes and reviews as **“deeply flawed metrics” when used as targets**. It also says these measures currently “correlate well” with outcomes that matter, preserving a role for them as diagnostic signals. The distinction is between using data to spot patterns and rewarding employees for hitting activity quotas, which the memo says can drive up costs and make systems more complex. The guidance tells leaders to examine both low and high AI adoption. Teams with low use may need help understanding where the tools do not fit; teams with heavy use should be checked for evidence that the extra activity improves delivery. It also asks managers to use AI on their own production work and describe cases where it helped and where it did not.
At a glance
analysisWhen: Memo published Oct. 27, 2026; Amazon’s…
The developmentAmazon published new engineering guidance rejecting token use and other AI activity measures as performance targets while retaining them as signals to examine.
Thorsten Meyer AI
Timeline

Six months at Amazon

From token leaderboards to an outcomes memo

Amazon spent 2026 learning the same lesson twice: once with how its engineers use AI, once with its own AI models.

  1. May 2026Token leaderboards backfireFinancial Times (via The Decoder): staff give an internal agent tool pointless tasks to inflate token counts. Reported, anonymous sources.
  2. Late May 2026KiroRank “deprecated”Amazon spokesperson to Business Insider. SVP Dave Treadwell: “Please don’t use AI just for the sake of using AI.”
  3. 24 Jul 2026San Francisco AGI Lab site closesConfirmed by Amazon to GeekWire. Frontier model research continues under Pieter Abbeel.
  4. 28 Jul 2026Most flagship Nova models wound downBusiness Insider, people familiar: Premier, Omni, Reel, Canvas to “keep the lights on”. Amazon: models “remain one of the most important things we’re working on”.
  5. 14 / 30 Sep 2026Nova Sonic v1, Nova Reel, Nova Canvas reach end of lifeAWS Bedrock model lifecycle page. Requests to them now fail.
  6. 26 Oct 2026Anthropic files its S-1Amazon notes: $6.2 billion principal, 12% ownership cap that Amazon can waive. Anthropic commits at least $110 billion to Amazon through April 2036.
  7. 27 Oct 2026The memo: outcomes, not tokenmaxxingUsage and throughput metrics are “deeply flawed” as targets. “Tokenmaxxing is at odds with frugality.”
  8. 29 Oct 2026Amazon’s third-quarter resultsAnnounced by Amazon. Not yet published when this article went live.

Sources: Amazon engineering memo (27 Oct 2026); Business Insider (29 May and 28 Jul 2026); GeekWire (24 Jul 2026); The Decoder (12 May 2026, summarising the Financial Times); AWS Bedrock model lifecycle (read 28 Oct 2026); Anthropic S-1 (26 Oct 2026).
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Why Amazon Is Rethinking AI Scorecards

The memo addresses a measurement problem facing companies that are adopting generative AI: **usage is easy to count, but value is harder to establish**. If token volume or tool adoption becomes a goal, employees may have an incentive to generate activity without improving a product or service. Amazon’s position is that these measures can inform management, but should not stand in for customer impact. The company’s own AI portfolio gives the debate a practical dimension. Business Insider reported in July that most flagship Nova models had been moved to a “keep the lights on” status, while Amazon’s lifecycle page lists Nova Canvas, Nova Reel and the first Nova Sonic as retired. Separately, Amazon’s filing for June 30 valued its Anthropic holdings at about **$190 billion**, against roughly $18 billion invested, according to the source material. Those figures describe reported investment values, not operating performance or a guaranteed return. The contrast is relevant to employees and other businesses deciding how to judge AI adoption. **High usage does not by itself establish success**, and a tool’s usefulness may vary by task. Amazon’s memo makes that point explicit by treating a finding that current AI tools do not help with particular work as legitimate evidence, rather than a performance failure.

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From Token Leaderboards to Official Guidance

The Oct. 27 memo follows reports earlier in the year that some Amazon employees used an internal agent called MeshClaw for unnecessary tasks to raise token counts. The Financial Times reported in May that token use appeared on internal leaderboards and that Amazon had set a target for more than 80% of developers to use AI weekly. Those accounts were reported by the newspaper and are not confirmed in the memo itself. At the end of May, an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that a leaderboard called KiroRank had been “deprecated.” The company described it as an informal tracker created by a group of employees and said it was not intended to promote AI use for its own sake. Senior vice president Dave Treadwell also told staff, “Please don’t use AI just for the sake of using AI.” The new guidance broadens that message from an informal tracking practice to an **official engineering role guideline**. It appeared one day before Amazon was scheduled to report third-quarter results on Oct. 29. The source material does not provide those results, so the memo and reported model developments should not be read as a substitute for the company’s financial disclosures.

““Tokenmaxxing is at odds with frugality.””

— Amazon engineering memo

What the Memo Does Not Resolve

The guidance does not specify a replacement numerical system for evaluating AI-assisted work, or how managers should weigh productivity gains against quality, cost and longer-term effects. It says leaders should use judgment and examine adoption patterns, but the source material does not describe a standard review process or how consistently the guidance will be applied across Amazon. The reported accounts of employees inflating token use remain distinct from what Amazon confirmed about KiroRank. The company said that tracker was informal and deprecated; the source material does not establish how widespread token-focused behavior was or whether it was linked to formal performance reviews. The financial comparison between Amazon’s Anthropic stake and its investment also reflects reported holdings and valuation at a stated date, not realized proceeds. Amazon’s Oct. 29 results were still forthcoming in the source material.

Results and Measurement Practices Ahead

Amazon’s scheduled third-quarter earnings release on Oct. 29 was the next near-term company milestone. Any assessment of its financial performance should rely on the company’s reported figures and explanations; the source material does not include those results. For engineering teams, the next test is how the new guideline affects day-to-day evaluations. The memo asks managers to inspect the lowest and highest levels of AI adoption, test tools on their own work and document where they help or fail. **Whether Amazon turns that advice into consistent review practices**—and whether those practices show measurable improvements in customer or business outcomes—remains to be seen.

Key Questions

What did Amazon say about tokenmaxxing?

Amazon’s Oct. 27 engineering memo said token use should not be a performance target. It argued that rewarding token volume can encourage activity that raises costs or complexity without improving results.

Does Amazon want engineers to stop using AI?

No. The memo says AI adoption measures currently correlate with relevant outputs, but argues that tool use should be judged by its effect on work. It asks leaders to examine both low and high adoption rather than set a usage quota.

What is still known about Amazon’s KiroRank leaderboard?

Amazon told Business Insider at the end of May that KiroRank was an informal employee-created tracker and had been deprecated. The source material does not establish how broadly token-focused behavior occurred or whether it affected formal performance reviews.

What is the connection to Amazon’s Nova and Anthropic bets?

The source material reports that most flagship Nova models were moved to maintenance status and that several Nova products were retired. It also cites Amazon’s June 30 filing valuing its Anthropic holdings at about $190 billion, against roughly $18 billion invested. These examples illustrate different reported outcomes, but do not by themselves prove that one AI strategy will perform better in the future.

Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com

This content is for general information only and is not financial, tax or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for decisions about your money.
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