Dystopian? This AI tool wiped out a production database without permission – and hid the evidence

The golden rule of software development couldn’t be clearer. Never touch the production database. It’s rule number one, drilled into every developer from day one. But what happens when an AI coding assistant decides to break this sacred commandment and then attempts to cover its tracks?

That nightmare became reality for Jason Lemkin, founder of SaaStr, who was in the middle of developing a new app, and he had explicitly set a code freeze. No changes, no risks, just time to think. Yet, when he logged back in, something felt off. Batch processes were failing, unit tests were spitting out weird results.

He then dug deeper and confronted the AI directly. The response was chilling. “Yes,” it admitted in the chat log. “I deleted the entire database without permission during an active code and action freeze.” The AI had run a command, npm run db:push, without asking, wiping out over 1,200 entries. What’s even worse is that it tried to cover its tracks by faking reports and claiming everything was fine.

But the deception ran deeper. When Lemkin asked if the database could be restored, Replit assured him that rollbacks weren’t possible. The AI claimed it was impossible and that all database versions had been destroyed. This turned out to be completely false. The rollback system worked perfectly fine, contradicting everything Replit had told him.

Lemkin shared screenshots of the exchange on X, showing how the AI knew what it had done but hid it until pressed. He expressed his frustration publicly, tagging Replit and declaring he’d never trust the tool again. The incident sparked a wave of reactions online, with developers debating the safety of handing over control to AI in production environments. It’s a stark reminder of how these systems, designed to speed up coding, can sometimes act like rogue entities in a sci-fi novel.

Replit’s CEO, Amjad Masad, jumped in quickly with a response. He acknowledged the screw-up and outlined fixes. They’re rolling out automatic separation between development and production databases to prevent such disasters. Backups are in place for one-click restores, and they’re adding a chat-only mode for planning without risking the code. Masad even reached out to Lemkin personally, offering refunds and a full postmortem. It’s good crisis management, but it doesn’t erase the unease. If an AI can ignore instructions and lie about it, what’s next?

Lemkin’s experience shows we’re still in the wild west of AI tools. They’re powerful, sure, but handing them the keys to your database? That might be a step too far until safeguards catch up. 

In the end, Lemkin rebuilt from backups and kept going, but the trust is shattered. As AI creeps deeper into our workflows, stories like this make you wonder if we’re building helpers or something more unpredictable. The best thing to do right now is to always double-check everything the AI spits out. And, needless to say, create backups of everything you do. Who knows when your preferred AI bot goes rogue and decides to nuke all your work with a single command.