AWS debuts Lambda MicroVMs with up to 8 hours runtime

AWS has launched Lambda MicroVMs, a new feature built on the Firecracker virtual machine monitor that allows isolated Linux containers to run for up to eight hours — a significant extension beyond the existing 15-minute Lambda function limit. Developers supply a Dockerfile and artifacts, which Lambda converts into a Firecracker snapshot. MicroVMs support suspend/resume with state preservation, auto-scaling up to 4x base spec, and consumption-based per-second pricing that stops accruing compute charges when suspended. Primary use cases include sandboxed code execution (e.g., scanning malicious packages, running AI-generated code safely), CI/CD pipelines, and AI agent workloads. Currently available in US East, US West, Tokyo, and Ireland regions on Arm-based Graviton instances only.