Saturday, 23 August, 2025
Coinbase CEO Fires Engineers Who Refused to Onboard AI Tools Within One Week
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong mandated that all software engineers adopt AI coding tools—specifically GitHub Copilot or Cursor—within one week of deployment. Employees who hadn’t onboarded by the deadline were summoned to a Saturday meeting to explain their delay. Those without valid reasons were promptly fired. Armstrong acknowledged that his approach was “heavy-handed” and controversial but emphasized it signaled that AI adoption is non-negotiable at Coinbase.
Read full story at TechCrunch