In a decisive move, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has mandated the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI), leading to the termination of engineers who resisted. Armstrong revealed the firings of employees who failed to embrace AI technologies. The company is making AI a central focus within its technology teams. Engineers were given a one-week deadline to learn AI tools such as GitHub Copilot and Cursor. Armstrong communicated through the company’s Slack channel, making it clear that AI adoption was mandatory. The engineers who failed to adapt and couldn’t provide a sufficient reason were subsequently dismissed. AI’s integration has yielded notable changes at Coinbase, with AI currently responsible for writing 33% of the code. The company intends to reach 50% by the end of this quarter. Monthly AI Speed Runs are conducted to showcase engineers’ innovative application of AI. Coinbase has also stressed that AI usage will be monitored by humans, especially due to the platform’s financial operations. Coinbase’s action shows the importance of AI adoption in the tech industry. The engineers who are successfully utilizing AI are able to code more effectively.
