Amazon Mandates 'Kiro' for Engineers, Blocks Rivals
Amazon has issued a directive to its software engineers to stop using third-party AI coding tools like OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code. The company is pivoting exclusively to its internal tool, "Kiro," in a bid to rival Microsoft and Google.
In a decisive move that signals a major shift in its internal development culture, Amazon has reportedly directed its vast workforce of software engineers to stop adopting third-party AI coding assistants. According to a leaked internal memo, the tech giant is mandating a pivot exclusively to its own proprietary tool, Kiro, effectively closing the door on popular competitors like OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude Code.
The directive, signed by senior AWS and e-commerce executives Peter DeSantis and Dave Treadwell, explicitly states: "While we continue to support existing tools in use today, we do not plan to support additional third party, AI development tools." This strategic maneuver is designed to consolidate Amazon's development ecosystem and close the perceived gap with rivals like Google and Microsoft in the generative AI race.
What is Kiro?
Kiro is Amazon's new, homegrown AI-native Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Unlike simple autocomplete extensions, Kiro is described as an "agentic" tool built on a fork of VS Code. It distinguishes itself with a "spec-driven development" approach.
Instead of jumping straight into writing code from a prompt, Kiro first generates formal specifications, design documents, and task lists. This method aims to solve a common problem with AI-generated code: the creation of "spaghetti code" that works but is hard to maintain or document. By forcing a structured planning phase, Amazon hopes to produce higher-quality, enterprise-ready software.
Key Features of Kiro:
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Dual Modes: Offers a "Vibe Mode" for quick prototyping and a "Spec Mode" for structured, documented engineering.
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Agentic Capabilities: Can autonomously navigate codebases, open relevant files, and perform multi-step reasoning rather than just predicting the next line of text.
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Integration: Deeply integrated with AWS services but capable of working across various languages and platforms.
The "We Do Not Plan To..." Directive
The internal message makes it clear that Amazon wants to control its own destiny. By blocking the adoption of external tools like Cursor (a popular AI code editor) and Claude Code, Amazon is enforcing a "dogfooding" strategy—using its own products to improve them.
The executives wrote, "As part of our builder community, you all play a critical role shaping these products and we use your feedback to aggressively improve them." The implication is clear: Amazon engineers are not just users of Kiro; they are its primary testers and trainers. This move comes despite Amazon's massive multibillion-dollar investments in Anthropic, creating an interesting dynamic where it financially backs a partner while simultaneously blocking its products internally to favor its own.
Why the Urgency?
Amazon has been fighting a perception that it has fallen behind in the generative AI boom. While Microsoft (via OpenAI) and Google have grabbed headlines with Copilot and Gemini, Amazon's previous offering, CodeWhisperer (now part of Amazon Q Developer), struggled to gain the same level of developer love.
By forcing the adoption of Kiro, Amazon aims to:
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Accelerate Innovation: Rapidly iterate on Kiro based on feedback from thousands of top-tier internal engineers.
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Reduce Costs: Eliminate licensing fees paid to third-party vendors for thousands of employees.
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Data Security: Keep proprietary code and data within Amazon's own secure ecosystem rather than sending it to external API endpoints.
Context of Layoffs and Efficiency
This technological pivot arrives amidst a broader restructuring at Amazon. The company has recently cut thousands of corporate jobs, with reports indicating that engineering roles have been disproportionately affected. CEO Andy Jassy has emphasized a need to "operate leaner" and reduce bureaucracy.
The introduction of powerful AI agents like Kiro aligns with this efficiency drive. If an AI tool can handle routine coding tasks, debugging, and documentation autonomously, it supports the company's goal of doing more with fewer human resources. While leadership has stated that layoffs are not directly "AI-driven," the synchronicity of these moves—cutting headcount while deploying productivity-multiplying AI—has not gone unnoticed by the workforce.
Conclusion
Amazon's mandate is a bold gamble. By restricting access to the broader market of AI tools, it risks frustrating engineers who prefer the flexibility of industry-standard options like Cursor or Copilot. However, if Kiro delivers on its promise of "agentic," structured coding, it could give Amazon a significant edge, transforming how software is built not just within the company, but potentially for AWS customers worldwide. The message is loud and clear: at Amazon, the future of coding is Kiro.
