Amazon limits on Claude Code frustrate employees, including some who have to sell it to cloud customers

"Inside Amazon, however, employees aren't allowed to use Anthropic's Claude Code for production work or for live products without formal approval. That disconnect became more visible late last year, when Amazon rolled out internal guidance steering teams toward Kiro, its in-house AI coding assistant, according to internal messages seen by Business Insider. The guidance encourages using Kiro over non-approved third-party tools, including Claude Code, for production code."

"The restrictions have been particularly awkward for engineers who help sell AWS Bedrock, Amazon's platform that offers customers access to third-party AI services, including Claude Code. Some questioned how they could credibly promote a product they are not permitted to use themselves in official work. "Customers will ask why they should trust or use a tool that we did not approve for internal use," one employee wrote."

"The episode highlights the complexity of Amazon's relationship with Anthropic. While Amazon is racing to build and promote its own AI tools, it is also marketing a partner's competing technology. Amazon is one of Anthropic's largest investors, with a stake valued at more than $60 billion. Anthropic, in turn, is a major AWS customer, committing to use Amazon's cloud services and at least one million of Amazon's Trainium chips."

Amazon bars employees from using Anthropic's Claude Code for production work or live products without formal approval. Internal guidance directs teams to favor Kiro, Amazon's in-house AI coding assistant, over non-approved third-party tools for production code. The policy sparked criticism across internal forums, with roughly 1,500 employees endorsing formal adoption of Claude Code. Engineers who sell AWS Bedrock found the restriction awkward because Bedrock offers customers access to third-party services including Claude Code. Amazon is a major investor in Anthropic and a key cloud partner while Anthropic commits to significant AWS usage.

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