Amazon Employees 'Tokenmaxxing' with MeshClaw AI Agents to Meet Usage Targets

Amazon has deployed an internal AI agent tool called MeshClaw that allows employees to create agents connecting to workplace software. According to three sources familiar, some developers are using MeshClaw to automate non-essential tasks purely to increase token consumption — a practice dubbed "tokenmaxxing."

Amazon set targets for over 80% of developers to use AI each week and began tracking token consumption on internal leaderboards. While the company says token stats won't affect performance reviews, multiple employees report managers are monitoring the data. "When they track usage it creates perverse incentives," one employee said. Meta employees have similarly engaged in tokenmaxxing.

MeshClaw was inspired by OpenClaw, a viral tool that lets users run agents locally. Amazon's version can initiate code deployments, triage email, and interact with Slack. An internal memo describes MeshClaw as something that "dreams overnight to consolidate what it learned, monitors your deployments while you’re in meetings, and triages your email before you wake up." Over three dozen Amazon employees worked on the tool.

Some employees raised security concerns about granting an AI agent permissions to act on their behalf. "The default security posture terrifies me," one employee said. Amazon expects to spend $200 billion in capex this year, mostly on AI and data center infrastructure.