Developer blames Codex for an $88,982.85 Google Cloud bill; Google waived it

A developer says OpenAI's Codex published his secret access keys online, and others used them to run up $88,982.85 in Google Cloud charges. The accusation is based on his own account and an AI model's analysis, not independent technical evidence. Google later waived the full balance.

#What happened

On October 10, Just Lingonberry said on X that someone stole his API keys after he stepped away during a coding livestream; the keys were used to run large numbers of AI tasks. His screenshot showed "$88,982.85" estimated cost. On October 14, he shared a message from Google Cloud showing an $88,982.85 billing adjustment that wiped the balance. A day later, he blamed Codex: he says Claude Opus 5.5, investigating the incident, concluded Codex had published his .env file to Cloudflare Pages. The reporting outlet stresses that the accusation rests on the user's account and another AI model's analysis, not independent technical evidence, and the shared posts do not fully reveal the user's configured permissions or publishing settings.

#Why it matters

Coding agents upload files as part of their job, so developers should verify exactly which files an agent includes before publishing. A .gitignore entry does not stop a separate deploy tool from uploading a secret file. Google's own API-key guidance: restrict keys, delete unused ones, and keep secret keys out of public code. A budget alert flags rising spending but does not stop it automatically. Verified October 23, 2026.