Amazon memo warns engineers against tokenmaxxing and AI usage metrics

Amazon told staff in an internal memo that token usage and code generation are "deeply flawed" ways to measure AI adoption, urging engineers to focus on long-term outcomes. The company shut down an internal leaderboard in May after discovering employees were tokenmaxxing.

• Amazon calls token usage and code volume "deeply flawed" AI metrics
• Internal leaderboard was shut down in May over tokenmaxxing
• No caps on employee token usage have been introduced
• Engineers should be judged on long-term outcomes, memo says