• 2 min read
AWS billing glitch shows some users trillion-dollar fees
An AWS billing error briefly showed some customers charges from billions to $7.1 trillion. Amazon says the issue is global and should be fixed this weekend.
Image: Wired
Some Amazon Web Services customers woke up to absurdly high bills this week, with erroneous charges ranging from billions of dollars to $7.1 trillion.
One of them was Bill Radjewski, who runs CollegeFootballData.com. He told WIRED that AWS emailed him saying he had already racked up more than $1.5 billion in usage fees, and that his August 1 bill was on pace 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 of his last three AWS invoices with WIRED. Each totaled $0.01.
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Replies to the AWS Support account on X suggest the problem was broader. Other users reported estimated charges of $22 billion, $75 billion, and $110 billion. One user wrote that AWS had hit them with a bill for $5 million and joked that their “heart will explode.”
Amazon spokesperson Aisha Johnson referred WIRED to the AWS Service Health Dashboard, which described the problem as global. According to the dashboard, the billing console began showing incorrect estimated billing data on Thursday, July 16 at 10:38 PM ET.
AWS said it began investigating about six hours later and traced the problem to “an issue with unit pricing within the estimated billing computation subsystem.” The company did not give more detail, but said it was:
- rolling back a recent change to the billing computation subsystem
- attempting to restore the “last known good estimated bill computation”
- pausing estimated billing computations
AWS said the issue should be resolved by this weekend and that “there are no customer actions required at this time.”
Some users responded with humor. A post on the AWS subreddit showed one customer’s Cost and usage overview claiming $7.1 trillion in fees since July 1—more than twice Amazon’s market cap.
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
