Amazon urges engineers to use AI selectively and look beyond token counts

CNBC reports Amazon circulated an engineering memo internally in September 2026 and posted it publicly on October 27. The memo says engineers should use AI when it helps and weigh token usage and code changes alongside other data, while measuring long-term outcomes. CNBC also reports Amazon shut down an internal leaderboard in May after finding employees were “tokenmaxxing” to climb it.