diff --git a/tinygrad/engine/allocations.py b/tinygrad/engine/allocations.py
index 249841339e..1125deb7e7 100644
--- a/tinygrad/engine/allocations.py
+++ b/tinygrad/engine/allocations.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ add_tags = PatternMatcher([
    lambda a,c,dest: a.replace(src=(a.src[0], a.src[1].replace(src=(dest, c.rtag(())))), tag=a.tag+c.tag) if a.tag and c.tag else None),
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, src=(UPat(), UPat(Ops.STORE)), name="x"), tag_uop),
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, name="u"), apply_after),
-  (UPat({Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.ASSIGN}, name="x"), tag_uop),
+  (UPat(Ops.CONTIGUOUS, name="x"), tag_uop),
   (UPat(GroupOp.All, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: tag_uop(ctx,x) if x in ctx.bases else None),
 ])
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def replace_contig_with_store_after(u:UOp):
 
 def replace_store_after_with_contig(u:UOp, src:UOp):
   assigned_to = u
-  while assigned_to.op in {Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.BITCAST, Ops.AFTER}: assigned_to = assigned_to.src[0].base
+  while assigned_to.op in {Ops.BITCAST, Ops.AFTER}: assigned_to = assigned_to.src[0].base
   if assigned_to.op is not Ops.BUFFER: return src.contiguous(tag=u.tag)
 
 def contiguous_mops_to_view(c:UOp):
@@ -124,10 +124,10 @@ pm_early_transform_tensor_graph = PatternMatcher([
   (UPat(Ops.CONTIGUOUS, src=(UPat(GroupOp.Movement),), name="c"), contiguous_mops_to_view),
 
   # add CONTIGUOUS to tagged UOps
-  (UPat(GroupOp.All-{Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.AFTER, Ops.STORE}, name="x"),
+  (UPat(GroupOp.All-{Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.AFTER, Ops.STORE}, name="x"),
    lambda x: x.rtag(None).contiguous(tag=x.tag) if x.tag else x.replace(tag=None)),
-  # remove extra CONTIGUOUS on ASSIGN/AFTER (only when target is contiguous)
-  (UPat(Ops.CONTIGUOUS, src=(UPat({Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.AFTER}, name="a"),), name="c"),
+  # remove extra CONTIGUOUS on AFTER (only when target is contiguous)
+  (UPat(Ops.CONTIGUOUS, src=(UPat(Ops.AFTER, name="a"),), name="c"),
    lambda a,c: a.replace(tag=(a.tag or ())+(c.tag or ())) if a.src[0].has_buffer_identity() else None),
   # replace AFTER+STORE with CONTIGUOUS when target is not a buffer
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, src=(UPat(), UPat(Ops.STORE, src=(UPat(), UPat(name="src")))), name="u"), replace_store_after_with_contig),
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ def untag_and_append(ctx:AllocCtx, x:UOp):
   for t in x.tag:
     original_uop: UOp = ctx.uop_list[t]
     replace_uop = ret
-    while replace_uop.op in {Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.AFTER}: replace_uop = replace_uop.src[0]
+    while replace_uop.op is Ops.AFTER: replace_uop = replace_uop.src[0]
     ctx.buffer_map[original_uop] = replace_uop.shrink_to(original_uop.shape)
   if ret.op is not Ops.AFTER: ctx.assigns.append(ret)  # AFTER gets appended by append_after
   return ret
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ def replace_input_buffer(ctx:AllocCtx, b:UOp):
                    b._min_max if b.op is Ops.BIND else None, b.src[0].arg[0] if b.op is Ops.BIND else None)
 
 pm_finalize_call = PatternMatcher([
-  (UPat({Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.AFTER}, name="x"), untag_and_append),
+  (UPat(Ops.AFTER, name="x"), untag_and_append),
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, name="x"), append_after),
   (UPat(Ops.COPY, name="x"), lambda ctx,x: append_after(ctx,x) if isinstance(x.device, str) and x.device.startswith(("DISK", "TINYFS")) else None),
   # remove unique from const. TODO: this is copied in function.py
diff --git a/tinygrad/schedule/indexing.py b/tinygrad/schedule/indexing.py
index 8a7f001957..0b46ccf1c5 100644
--- a/tinygrad/schedule/indexing.py
+++ b/tinygrad/schedule/indexing.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from tinygrad.uop.ops import consumer_map_from_toposort, gate_kernel_sink
 from tinygrad.uop.symbolic import symbolic, pm_simplify_valid, pm_drop_and_clauses
 from tinygrad.helpers import argsort, all_same, cpu_profile, PCONTIG, colored
 
-ALWAYS_CONTIGUOUS: set[Ops] = {Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.AFTER, Ops.COPY, Ops.BUFFER, Ops.BUFFER_VIEW,
+ALWAYS_CONTIGUOUS: set[Ops] = {Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.AFTER, Ops.COPY, Ops.BUFFER, Ops.BUFFER_VIEW,
                      Ops.CONST, Ops.BIND, Ops.DEVICE, Ops.MSELECT, Ops.MSTACK, Ops.PARAM,
                      Ops.DEFINE_LOCAL, Ops.DEFINE_REG, Ops.LOAD, Ops.CALL}
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def realize_store_after_src(ctx:dict[UOp, None], dest:UOp, src:UOp):
 
 pm_generate_realize_map = PatternMatcher([
   # always realize
-  (UPat({Ops.COPY, Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.ASSIGN}, name="tr"), realize),
+  (UPat({Ops.COPY, Ops.CONTIGUOUS}, name="tr"), realize),
   # realize AFTER of STORE+AFTER
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, src=(UPat(), UPat(Ops.STORE)), allow_any_len=True, name="tr"), realize),
   # realize srcs of these
diff --git a/tinygrad/schedule/multi.py b/tinygrad/schedule/multi.py
index a54f46f574..435363bfcd 100644
--- a/tinygrad/schedule/multi.py
+++ b/tinygrad/schedule/multi.py
@@ -107,10 +107,6 @@ def copy_multi(multi:UOp, device:str | tuple[str, ...] | UOp):
   assert multi.axis is not None, "all multi ops have axis"
   return multi.src[0]._unshard(multi.axis).allreduce(Ops.ADD, device)
 
-def assign_multi(dest:UOp, src:UOp):
-  if dest.axis != src.axis: raise RuntimeError(f"axis must match in assign {dest.axis} != {src.axis}")
-  return dest.src[0].assign(src.src[0]).multi(src.axis)
-
 def store_after_multi(dest:UOp, src:UOp): return dest.after(dest.store(src.src[0])).multi(src.axis)
 
 def passthrough_multi(root:UOp, multi:UOp):
@@ -137,7 +133,6 @@ multi_pm = PatternMatcher([
   (UPat(Ops.SHRINK, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="multi"), UPat(), UPat()), name="root"), shrink_multi),
   (UPat(Ops.PERMUTE, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="multi"), ), name="root"), permute_multi),
   (UPat(Ops.FLIP, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="multi"), ), name="root"), flip_multi),
-  (UPat(Ops.ASSIGN, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="dest"), UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="src"))), assign_multi),
   (UPat(Ops.AFTER, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI), UPat(Ops.STORE, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="dest"), UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="src"))))), store_after_multi),
   (UPat(Ops.COPY, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="multi"), UPat(Ops.DEVICE, name="device"))), copy_multi),
   (UPat(Ops.ALLREDUCE, src=(UPat(Ops.MULTI, name="multi"), UPat(Ops.DEVICE, name="device")), name="red"),
diff --git a/tinygrad/schedule/rangeify.py b/tinygrad/schedule/rangeify.py
index ac672571b9..1ceeca13c7 100644
--- a/tinygrad/schedule/rangeify.py
+++ b/tinygrad/schedule/rangeify.py
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ earliest_rewrites = mop_cleanup+PatternMatcher([
 # *****************
 # 3.5 cleanups
 
-ALWAYS_RUN_OPS = {Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.COPY, Ops.ASSIGN, Ops.NOOP}
+ALWAYS_RUN_OPS = {Ops.CONTIGUOUS, Ops.COPY, Ops.NOOP}
 
 # you don't know in the first pass if axes are going to die, this happens if there's an EXPAND to the left
 def cleanup_dead_axes(b:UOp):
@@ -383,20 +383,6 @@ def bufferize_to_store(ctx:itertools.count, x:UOp, idx:UOp, allow_locals=True):
       end_rngs = sorted(dedup(tuple(store_target.ranges) + tuple(rngs)), key=lambda x: x.arg)
       ended_stores.append(store_target.replace(dtype=sdtype).store(stores[0].src[1]).end(*end_rngs))
     return buf.after(*ended_stores)
-  if (assign := x.src[0]).op is Ops.ASSIGN:
-    assign_target, assign_src = assign.src[0], assign.src[1]
-    assert assign_target.op is Ops.INDEX, f"{assign_target.op} is not index"
-    while assign_src.op is Ops.NOOP: assign_src = assign_src.src[0]
-
-    store_target = assign_target
-    if assign_target.src[0].op is Ops.BUFFERIZE and assign_target.src[0].src[0].op is Ops.INDEX:
-      # BUFFERIZE(INDEX(...)); store through the underlying global index instead.
-      store_target = assign_target.src[0].src[0]
-
-    end_rngs = sorted(dedup(tuple(store_target.ranges) + tuple(rngs)), key=lambda x: x.arg)
-    ret = store_target.buf_uop.base
-    if assign_src is not assign_target: ret = ret.after(store_target.replace(dtype=sdtype).store(assign_src).end(*end_rngs))
-    return ret
 
   # NOTE: the DEFINE_LOCAL needs to be disambiguated here
   if sdtype.addrspace == AddrSpace.GLOBAL:
diff --git a/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py b/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
index 115ffb82de..2780f23eb5 100644
--- a/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
+++ b/tinygrad/uop/__init__.py
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class Ops(FastEnum):
   # ** 6 -- ops that don't exist in programs **
 
   # tensor graph ops
-  UNIQUE = auto(); DEVICE = auto(); ASSIGN = auto()
+  UNIQUE = auto(); DEVICE = auto()
 
   # local unique
   LUNIQUE = auto()
diff --git a/tinygrad/uop/ops.py b/tinygrad/uop/ops.py
index c463409f45..64e92616ea 100644
--- a/tinygrad/uop/ops.py
+++ b/tinygrad/uop/ops.py
@@ -307,8 +307,6 @@ class UOp(OpMixin, metaclass=UOpMetaClass):
             raise ValueError(f"invalid type for axis: {axis_arg}")
           return tuple(1 if i in axis_arg else s for i,s in enumerate(ps))
 
-    if self.op is Ops.ASSIGN: return self.src[1]._shape
-
     # elementwise ops keep the shape the same. all inputs with shape must match
     if self.op in GroupOp.ALU.union({Ops.CAST, Ops.COPY, Ops.NOOP, Ops.GROUP, Ops.SINK, Ops.ALLREDUCE}):
       input_shapes = [x._shape for x in self.src if x._shape is not None]
diff --git a/tinygrad/uop/spec.py b/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
index b5f3e5c5e8..05af174412 100644
--- a/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
+++ b/tinygrad/uop/spec.py
@@ -97,9 +97,6 @@ _tensor_spec = PatternMatcher([
   # KERNEL can attach to an AFTER to describe the compute required to realize a BUFFER
   (UPat(Ops.CALL, src=UPat((Ops.BUFFER, Ops.AFTER, Ops.MSELECT, Ops.MSTACK, Ops.BIND))), lambda: True),
 
-  # ASSIGN is used internally by allreduce for precompiled function bodies
-  (UPat(Ops.ASSIGN, name="x"), lambda x: len(x.src) >= 2),
-
   # MSELECT chooses one of the multi buffers
   (UPat(Ops.MSELECT, name="x"), lambda x: isinstance(x.src[0].device, tuple) and x.arg < len(x.src[0].device)),
 
diff --git a/tinygrad/viz/serve.py b/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
index 146cb919ae..1b7f9f246f 100755
--- a/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
+++ b/tinygrad/viz/serve.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ from tinygrad.dtype import dtypes
 
 uops_colors = {Ops.LOAD: "#ffc0c0", Ops.STORE: "#87CEEB", Ops.CONST: "#e0e0e0", Ops.VCONST: "#e0e0e0", Ops.REDUCE: "#FF5B5B",
                **{x:"#f2cb91" for x in {Ops.DEFINE_LOCAL, Ops.DEFINE_REG}}, Ops.REDUCE_AXIS: "#FF6B6B",
-               Ops.RANGE: "#c8a0e0", Ops.ASSIGN: "#909090", Ops.BARRIER: "#ff8080", Ops.IF: "#c8b0c0", Ops.SPECIAL: "#c0c0ff",
+               Ops.RANGE: "#c8a0e0", Ops.BARRIER: "#ff8080", Ops.IF: "#c8b0c0", Ops.SPECIAL: "#c0c0ff",
                Ops.INDEX: "#cef263", Ops.WMMA: "#efefc0", Ops.MULTI: "#f6ccff", Ops.INS: "#eec4ff",
                **{x:"#D8F9E4" for x in GroupOp.Movement}, **{x:"#ffffc0" for x in GroupOp.ALU}, Ops.THREEFRY:"#ffff80",
                Ops.BUFFER_VIEW: "#E5EAFF", Ops.BUFFER: "#B0BDFF", Ops.COPY: "#a040a0", Ops.CUSTOM_FUNCTION: "#bf71b6",