Amazon interviews and AI
Amazon has gone the other way from Canva and DoorDash: generative AI is not allowed in live interviews unless you are told otherwise. That makes preparation simpler to describe and harder to fake. You need to solve problems and tell stories out loud, unaided.
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What is known about the real round
Generative AI tools are not allowed during live interviews unless explicitly permitted, and using them can disqualify you.
Internal recruiter guidance reported in 2025 tells candidates not to use generative AI in interviews unless told they may. An Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire that candidates acknowledge they will not use unauthorized tools during interviews or assessments. The same reporting says some online assessments are written with the expectation that candidates may use AI, so read the instructions on yours.
Formats change between hiring cycles. Ask your recruiter what your round will be, and see the policy tracker for other companies.
Format overview
Business Insider reported internal recruiter guidelines in early 2025 saying candidates who use generative AI tools during interviews without explicit permission may be disqualified. GeekWire and others followed up.
An Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire that candidates acknowledge they will not use unauthorized tools, such as generative AI, during interviews or assessments.
The same reporting says some online assessments are written with the expectation that candidates may use AI, so read the instructions on yours rather than assuming either way.
What is evaluated
- Your own problem solving and coding, without AI help (the point of the policy as reported).
- Answers to behavioral questions in your own words. Amazon publishes its Leadership Principles, which its behavioral questions are widely reported to follow.
Example task types
- Live coding problems with an interviewer.
- Behavioral questions answered with specific stories.
- An online assessment, whose instructions say what is allowed.
What gets scored in practice
Every Placed round ends with a report that scores each rubric criterion from 0 to 10. On Pro, each score comes with the moment in your session it is based on. How grading works.
Where people lose the round
- Practicing only with an assistant open.
If your daily work uses AI, spend your prep time with it switched off, so the interview is not the first time in months you write code unaided.
- Reading answers from notes or a second screen.
Reported recruiter guidance lists signs interviewers watch for, such as reading responses. Practice telling stories without a script.
- Assuming the online assessment follows the same rule as live interviews.
Read the assessment instructions. Reporting says some are designed with AI use in mind.
A prep plan: three sessions before the real one
- Sit a timed coding round with no assistant and read the report, especially Communication.
- Do a debugging round with the assistant closed, to practice reading code unaided.
- Answer three behavioral questions out loud in a behavioral round, one story per question.
Questions people ask
Can you use AI in an Amazon interview?
Not unless you are explicitly told you may. Reported recruiter guidance says unauthorized generative AI use can disqualify a candidate, and an Amazon spokesperson said candidates acknowledge they will not use unauthorized tools during interviews or assessments.
Can I use AI to prepare for an Amazon interview?
Nothing reported restricts preparation. The rule is about using tools during interviews and assessments.
Does Amazon allow AI on the online assessment?
It depends on the assessment. Reporting says some are designed with the expectation that candidates may use AI. Follow the instructions on yours.
Keep going
- The AI-enabled coding interview: how to prepare, with every company guide in one place
- Amazon practice pack, 4 Placed rounds in order
- Meta's AI-enabled coding round
- Google's code comprehension round
- Canva's AI-assisted coding interview
Sources
Placed is not affiliated with Amazon. Company names are used to describe publicly reported interview formats.