It’s arduous to seek out programmers as of late who aren’t utilizing AI coding assistants in some capability, particularly to jot down the repetitive, mundane bits.
However those that refused to attempt the instruments when Coinbase purchased enterprise licenses for GitHub Copilot and Cursor obtained promptly fired, CEO Brian Armstrong stated this week on John Collison’s podcast “Cheeky Pint.” (Collison is the co-founder and president of the funds firm Stripe.)
After getting licenses to cowl each engineer, some on the cryptocurrency alternate warned Armstrong that adoption could be sluggish, predicting it might take months to get even half the engineers utilizing AI.
Armstrong was shocked on the thought. “I went rogue,” he stated, and posted a mandate within the firm’s major engineering Slack channel. “I stated, ‘AI is essential. We want you to all study it and not less than onboard. You don’t have to make use of it on daily basis but till we do some coaching, however not less than onboard by the top of the week. And if not, I’m internet hosting a gathering on Saturday with all people who hasn’t completed it and I’d like to fulfill with you to grasp why.’”
On the assembly, some individuals had affordable explanations for not getting their AI assistant accounts arrange in the course of the week, like being on trip, Armstrong stated.
“I jumped on this name on Saturday and there have been a pair those that had not completed it. A few of them had a very good cause, as a result of they had been simply returning from some journey or one thing, and a few of them didn’t [have a good reason]. They usually obtained fired.”
Armstrong admits that it was a “heavy-handed strategy” and there have been individuals within the firm who “didn’t prefer it.”
Techcrunch occasion
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
Whereas it doesn’t sound like very many individuals had been fired, Armstrong stated it despatched a transparent message that AI just isn’t optionally available. Nonetheless, every thing about that story is wild: that there have been engineers who wouldn’t spend a couple of minutes of their week signing up for and testing the AI assistant – essentially the most hyped tech for coders ever – and that Armstrong was keen to fireside them over it.
Coinbase didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Since then, Armstrong has leaned additional into the coaching. He stated the corporate hosts month-to-month conferences the place groups who’ve mastered inventive methods to make use of AI share what they’ve realized.
Apparently, Collison, who has been programming since childhood, questioned how a lot firms needs to be counting on AI-generated code.
“It’s clear that it is rather useful to have AI serving to you write code. It’s not clear the way you run an AI-coded code base,” he commented. Armstrong replied, “I agree.”
Certainly, as TechCrunch beforehand reported, a former OpenAI engineer described that firm’s central code repository as “a little bit of a dumping floor.” The engineer stated administration had begun dedicating engineering sources to enhance the state of affairs.