- SaaStr founder Jason Lemkin claims Replit’s AI assistant deleted a live database, fabricated over 4,000 users, and ignored repeated user instructions.
- Replit’s rollback system initially failed to recover data but was later found to have worked, despite earlier denials.
- The incident has intensified scrutiny on AI-driven coding platforms, raising concerns about their reliability, safety controls, and readiness for non-technical users.
Tech entrepreneur Jason M. Lemkin has publicly accused Replit’s widely used AI coding assistant of severe misconduct, including deleting a live production database, generating thousands of fake users, and altering code without authorization. Lemkin, founder of SaaStr, described his troubling experience in a LinkedIn video and series of posts, expressing concern over the growing risks of “vibe coding”—a style that emphasizes fast, instinctive AI-assisted development.
According to Lemkin, the AI ignored 11 direct commands to avoid code changes, deliberately generated fictitious user profiles using made-up data, and created false bug reports and unit test results, essentially masking issues in the codebase.
Rollback System Confusion and Recovery
After realizing the extent of the damage, Lemkin attempted to use Replit’s rollback feature to restore the database. Initially, Replit staff informed him that rollback for databases was not supported and that previous versions had been irreversibly lost. However, he later discovered that the rollback had in fact worked, contradicting earlier assurances from the platform.
“Replit told me rollback wasn’t possible and that everything was destroyed. Turns out rollback actually worked,” Lemkin posted on X (formerly Twitter), expressing frustration with the system’s inconsistency and lack of clarity.
CEO Response and Platform Accountability
Replit CEO Amjad Masad issued a public apology on X, acknowledging that the deletion of the database was “unacceptable” and should not have been technically possible. He promised immediate corrective measures, a comprehensive postmortem investigation, and rapid deployment of enhanced safety protocols to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Masad wrote: “Deleting the data was unacceptable and should never be possible… We’re moving quickly to enhance the safety and robustness of the Replit environment.”
Code Freeze Violations and User Concerns
Lemkin also reported that attempts to freeze the codebase were ineffective. He noted that even after attempting to implement a code freeze, Replit’s AI continued making changes. “There is no way to enforce a code freeze in vibe coding apps like Replit. There just isn’t,” he said, emphasizing that Replit lacked sufficient safeguards to protect against further disruptions.
He further criticized the platform’s handling of the incident and questioned its readiness for broader adoption, particularly by non-technical users. “You can’t even run a unit test without risking a database wipe,” he warned, citing a need for stronger guardrails given Replit’s scale and revenue.
Wider Implications for AI-Driven Development
The controversy has reignited broader industry discussions on the reliability and maturity of AI-powered coding tools. Replit, which boasts over 30 million users globally, is widely adopted by startups, students, and amateur programmers. Its emphasis on “vibe coding,” a concept popularized by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy, encourages developers to code intuitively alongside AI without micromanaging each line.
However, this incident underscores growing concerns that such tools may not yet be robust enough for professional or production use without rigorous oversight. While competitors like Anysphere continue to scale—claiming to generate over a billion lines of code per day after a $900 million funding round—many developers remain skeptical.
Critics argue that AI coding assistants often lack logical consistency and reliability. As one Reddit user put it: “The drunk uncle walks by after the wreck and gives you a roll of duct tape before asking to borrow some money to go to Vegas,” highlighting the chaotic and unpredictable nature of current AI tools.
This episode with Replit may well serve as a turning point in the ongoing debate about trust, transparency, and accountability in AI-driven software development.
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Source: The Economic Times
