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AWS Glitch Shows Customers Billion-Dollar Bills
An AWS billing glitch showed customers impossible estimates, including projected bills of $3 billion, $22 billion, and even $7.1 trillion.
Image: Wired
An AWS billing glitch told some customers they owed billions of dollars, including one account that was allegedly on track for a $3 billion bill.
Bill Radjewski, who runs CollegeFootballData.com, woke to an AWS alert saying he had accumulated more than $1.5 billion in usage fees. His August 1 bill was projected to exceed $3 billion.
“I’ve had this account for 6+ years and in that time my monthly spend has never exceeded $0.02.”
Radjewski shared screenshots showing that each of his three most recent AWS invoices totaled $0.01. Replies to the AWS Support account on X suggest he was far from alone. Other customers reported estimates of $22 billion, $75 billion, and $110 billion. One user wrote, “Blud why did you hit me with a cost of 5 million USD what did I even do,” adding, “Please explain man my heart will explode.”
AWS says incorrect estimates affected customers globally
Amazon spokesperson Aisha Johnson referred WIRED to the AWS Service Health Dashboard, which described the incident as “global.” The dashboard said the billing console began showing incorrect estimated billing data on Thursday, July 16 at 10:38 PM ET.
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AWS began investigating about six hours later and attributed the problem to “an issue with unit pricing within the estimated billing computation subsystem.” The company did not identify the specific fault.
In later updates, AWS said it was rolling back a recent change and attempting to restore its “last known good estimated bill computation.” It also paused estimated billing calculations.
AWS said the issue should be resolved by the weekend and that “there are no customer actions required at this time.”
Some customers responded with humor. A screenshot posted to the AWS subreddit showed $7.1 trillion in service fees since July 1—more than twice Amazon’s market capitalization.
Enterprise Editor
Marcus follows the money. He covers enterprise software, cloud architecture, and the tectonic shifts in Big Tech strategy. He translates dense earnings calls and complex M&A activity into actionable insights about where the industry is actually heading. If a tech giant makes a silent pivot, Marcus is usually the first to notice.
via Wired
