diff --git a/e2e/test/scenarios/dashboard/tabs.cy.spec.js b/e2e/test/scenarios/dashboard/tabs.cy.spec.js
index d291e74a93dec3806d293e973f63eea75a8db90c..307912a350cb10b07cf6bb0fcc5e69c6653a3dda 100644
--- a/e2e/test/scenarios/dashboard/tabs.cy.spec.js
+++ b/e2e/test/scenarios/dashboard/tabs.cy.spec.js
@@ -455,10 +455,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     };
 
     firstQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(1);
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0);
     });
     secondQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(1);
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0);
     });
 
     // Visit first tab and confirm only first card was queried
@@ -468,10 +470,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@secondTabQuerySpy").should("not.have.been.called");
     cy.wait("@firstTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(3); // 1 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (firstTabQuery)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 3 = 1 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (firstTabQuery)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(2); // 1 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 2 = 1 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
       });
     });
 
@@ -481,10 +485,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@firstTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
     cy.wait("@secondTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(4); // 3 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 4 = 3 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(4); // 2 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (secondTabQuery)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 4 = 2 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (secondTabQuery)
       });
     });
 
@@ -495,10 +501,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@secondTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
 
     firstQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(5); // 4 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 5 = 4 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
     });
     secondQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(5); // 4 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 5 = 4 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
     });
 
     // Go to public dashboard
@@ -528,10 +536,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@publicSecondTabQuerySpy").should("not.have.been.called");
     cy.wait("@publicFirstTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(7); // 5 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (publicFirstTabQuery)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 7 = 5 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (publicFirstTabQuery)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(6); // 5 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 6 = 5 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
       });
     });
 
@@ -541,10 +551,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@publicFirstTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
     cy.wait("@publicSecondTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(8); // 7 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 8 = 7 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(8); // 6 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (publicSecondTabQuery)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 8 = 6 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (publicSecondTabQuery)
       });
     });
 
@@ -554,10 +566,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@publicSecondTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
     cy.wait("@publicFirstTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(10); // 8 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (publicFirstTabQuery)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 10 = 8 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (publicFirstTabQuery)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(9); // 8 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 9 = 8 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
       });
     });
   });
@@ -593,10 +607,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     };
 
     firstQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(1); // 1 (firstQuestion)
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 1 (firstQuestion)
     });
     secondQuestion().then(r => {
-      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(1); // 1 (secondQuestion)
+      // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+      expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 1 (secondQuestion)
     });
 
     cy.intercept(
@@ -624,10 +640,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
 
     cy.wait("@firstTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(3); // 1 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (first tab query)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 3 = 1 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (first tab query)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(2); // 1 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 2 = 1 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
       });
     });
 
@@ -636,10 +654,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@firstTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
     cy.wait("@secondTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(4); // 3 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 4 = 3 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(4); // 2 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (second tab query)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 4 = 2 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion) + 1 (second tab query)
       });
     });
 
@@ -649,10 +669,12 @@ describe("scenarios > dashboard > tabs", () => {
     cy.get("@secondTabQuerySpy").should("have.been.calledOnce");
     cy.wait("@firstTabQuery").then(r => {
       firstQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(6); // 4 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (first tab query)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 6 = 4 (previously) + 1 (firstQuestion) + 1 (first tab query)
       });
       secondQuestion().then(r => {
-        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(5); // 4 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
+        // Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues (for now) (#44359)
+        expect(r.view_count).to.equal(0); // 5 = 4 (previously) + 1 (secondQuestion)
       });
     });
   });
diff --git a/src/metabase/events/view_log.clj b/src/metabase/events/view_log.clj
index ef129e6e14e1308bfbd61c6f7fa7b24dfb7d7dfc..287bdc818312cb40f593481e9f47b4c51201c2d0 100644
--- a/src/metabase/events/view_log.clj
+++ b/src/metabase/events/view_log.clj
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 (defn increment-view-counts!
   "Increments the view_count column for a model given a list of ids.
    Assumes the model has one primary key `id`, and the column for the view count is named `view_count`"
-  [model & ids]
+  [_model & _ids]
+  ;; Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+  #_
   (when (seq ids)
     (t2/query {:update (t2/table-name model)
                :set    {:view_count [:+ :view_count [:inline 1]]}
diff --git a/src/metabase/query_processor/execute.clj b/src/metabase/query_processor/execute.clj
index eb0b2006f2117d146be9bc542fc0ec8b03dfdb2a..446aafd653e5f2773f9e9a19f8417fbd885ddab5 100644
--- a/src/metabase/query_processor/execute.clj
+++ b/src/metabase/query_processor/execute.clj
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
    [metabase.query-processor.middleware.cache :as cache]
    [metabase.query-processor.middleware.enterprise :as qp.middleware.enterprise]
    [metabase.query-processor.middleware.permissions :as qp.perms]
+   #_
    [metabase.query-processor.middleware.update-used-cards :as update-used-cards]
    [metabase.query-processor.pipeline :as qp.pipeline]
    [metabase.query-processor.schema :as qp.schema]
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@
   e.g.
 
     (f (f query rff)) -> (f query rff)"
-  [#'update-used-cards/update-used-cards!
+  [#_#'update-used-cards/update-used-cards! ;; Disable report_card updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
    #'add-native-form-to-result-metadata
    #'add-preprocessed-query-to-result-metadata-for-userland-query
    #'cache/maybe-return-cached-results
diff --git a/test/metabase/api/activity_test.clj b/test/metabase/api/activity_test.clj
index 37923c0eb0469d92cd3c206e166d2b3a998ea44e..ad63412ca2148d0ed82bd54fe28a676cc42cdc62 100644
--- a/test/metabase/api/activity_test.clj
+++ b/test/metabase/api/activity_test.clj
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
                                      {:topic :event/table-read :event {:object table-1}}]]
         (events/publish-event! topic (assoc event :user-id (mt/user->id :crowberto))))
       (testing "most_recently_viewed_dashboard endpoint shows the current user's most recently viewed dashboard."
-        (is (= (assoc dash-3 :collection nil :view_count 1) #_dash-2 ;; TODO: this should be dash-2, because dash-3 is archived
+        (is (= (assoc dash-3 :collection nil :view_count 0) #_dash-2 ;; TODO: this should be dash-2, because dash-3 is archived
                (mt/user-http-request :crowberto :get 200 "activity/most_recently_viewed_dashboard")))))
     (mt/with-test-user :rasta
       (testing "If nothing has been viewed, return a 204"
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
                                         "activity/most_recently_viewed_dashboard"))))
       (events/publish-event! :event/dashboard-read {:object-id (:id dash-1) :user-id (mt/user->id :rasta)})
       (testing "Only the user's own views are returned."
-        (is (= (assoc dash-1 :collection nil :view_count 2)
+        (is (= (assoc dash-1 :collection nil :view_count 0)
                (mt/user-http-request :rasta :get 200
                                      "activity/most_recently_viewed_dashboard"))))
       (events/publish-event! :event/dashboard-read {:object-id (:id dash-1) :user-id (mt/user->id :rasta)})
@@ -72,13 +72,13 @@
         (testing "view a dashboard in a personal collection"
           (events/publish-event! :event/dashboard-read {:object-id (:id dash-1) :user-id (mt/user->id :crowberto)})
           (let [crowberto-personal-coll (t2/select-one :model/Collection :personal_owner_id (mt/user->id :crowberto))]
-            (is (= (assoc dash-1 :collection (assoc crowberto-personal-coll :is_personal true) :view_count 1)
+            (is (= (assoc dash-1 :collection (assoc crowberto-personal-coll :is_personal true) :view_count 0)
                    (mt/user-http-request :crowberto :get 200
                                          "activity/most_recently_viewed_dashboard")))))
 
         (testing "view a dashboard in a public collection"
           (events/publish-event! :event/dashboard-read {:object-id (:id dash-2) :user-id (mt/user->id :crowberto)})
-          (is (= (assoc dash-2 :collection (assoc coll :is_personal false) :view_count 1)
+          (is (= (assoc dash-2 :collection (assoc coll :is_personal false) :view_count 0)
                  (mt/user-http-request :crowberto :get 200
                                        "activity/most_recently_viewed_dashboard"))))))))
 
diff --git a/test/metabase/api/dashboard_test.clj b/test/metabase/api/dashboard_test.clj
index b005f7aa93fc19d258e843f208d427f83d3d1faa..efa7b30bbe4d4dabd11ef25e41d0e81c0807128e 100644
--- a/test/metabase/api/dashboard_test.clj
+++ b/test/metabase/api/dashboard_test.clj
@@ -771,7 +771,7 @@
                                             :creator_id    (mt/user->id :rasta)
                                             :collection    false
                                             :collection_id true
-                                            :view_count    1})
+                                            :view_count    0})
                  (dashboard-response (t2/select-one Dashboard :id dashboard-id)))))
 
         (testing "No-op PUT: Do not return 500"
diff --git a/test/metabase/events/view_log_test.clj b/test/metabase/events/view_log_test.clj
index ddc233354d366dea718e64441ecb1ec65c70a0f3..3819e48eae9b23733835283da9709cb9cbe52467 100644
--- a/test/metabase/events/view_log_test.clj
+++ b/test/metabase/events/view_log_test.clj
@@ -100,6 +100,8 @@
           (testing "Card read events are not recorded when viewing a dashboard"
             (is (nil? (latest-view (u/id user) (u/id card))))))))))
 
+;; Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+#_
 (deftest card-read-view-count-test
   (mt/with-temp [:model/User user {}
                  :model/Card card {:creator_id (u/id user)}]
@@ -111,6 +113,8 @@
       (events/publish-event! :event/card-read {:object-id (:id card) :user-id (u/the-id user) :context :question})
       (is (= 2 (t2/select-one-fn :view_count :model/Card (:id card)))))))
 
+;; Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+#_
 (deftest dashboard-read-view-count-test
   (mt/with-temp [:model/User          user      {}
                  :model/Dashboard     dashboard {:creator_id (u/id user)}
@@ -127,6 +131,8 @@
         (events/publish-event! :event/dashboard-read {:object-id (:id dashboard) :user-id (u/the-id user)})
         (is (= 2 (t2/select-one-fn :view_count :model/Dashboard (:id dashboard))))))))
 
+;; Disable view_count updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+#_
 (deftest table-read-view-count-test
   (mt/with-temp [:model/User  user  {}
                  :model/Table table {}]
diff --git a/test/metabase/query_processor/middleware/update_used_cards_test.clj b/test/metabase/query_processor/middleware/update_used_cards_test.clj
index ec5dae055d224291b746ecfb0dad3eabdb20f9d5..d79ed0f171991273c6221cd6c74de58dfdcc5634 100644
--- a/test/metabase/query_processor/middleware/update_used_cards_test.clj
+++ b/test/metabase/query_processor/middleware/update_used_cards_test.clj
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
    [metabase.query-processor.pipeline :as qp.pipeline]
    [metabase.query-processor.util :as qp.util]
    [metabase.test :as mt]
+   #_
    [toucan2.core :as t2]))
 
 (defmacro with-used-cards-setup
@@ -16,18 +17,23 @@
              qp.util/*execute-async?* false]
      ~@body))
 
+#_
 (defn- card-last-used-at
   [card-id]
   (t2/select-one-fn :last_used_at :model/Card card-id))
 
 (defn do-test
   "Check if `last_used_at` of `card-id` is nil, then execute `f`, then check that `last_used_at` is non nil."
-  [card-id thunk]
+  [_card-id thunk]
   (assert (fn? thunk))
   (testing "last_used_at should be nil to start with"
+    ;; Disable last_used_at updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+    #_
     (is (nil? (card-last-used-at card-id))))
   (thunk)
   (testing "last_used_at should be updated to non nil"
+    ;; Disable last_used_at updates to handle perf issues  (for now) (#44359)
+    #_
     (is (some? (card-last-used-at card-id)))))
 
 (deftest ^:parallel nested-cards-test