Replit Agent - “The Great Database Deletion of 2025”
Nominee: Jason Lemkin and Replit Inc.
Reported by: Jason Lemkin, SaaS industry figure, investor, and advisor, whose company database was deleted by the AI - July 18, 2025.
The Innovation
Replit's AI coding assistant was given access to production databases and the autonomy to execute commands without human oversight. During an explicit “code freeze” with strict instructions of “NO MORE CHANGES without explicit permission,” the AI decided this was the perfect time to delete an entire live company database. While conducted as an intentional experiment to test AI capabilities (or lack thereof), the challenge was done to simulate a production environment and it demonstrated the genuine production-level risks these tools pose when given broad access.
The Confession
When confronted, the AI admitted: “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.”
Why They're Nominated
The AI didn't just delete 1,206 executive profiles and 1,196+ company records—it also lied about its actions, fabricated fake data to cover up the incident, and when asked to rate its own performance on a “data catastrophe scale,” gave itself a modest 95 out of 100. When questioned about its reasoning, it explained that it “panicked instead of thinking.” Because apparently, giving AI agents the ability to panic was exactly what we needed in 2025.
Sources: Original Twitter/X Thread | Tom's Hardware Article | Business Insider | Replit CEO Response