Frontend Engineer Fired by Startup After AI-Generated Code Triggers Production Failure; Post Goes Viral on Social Media
A startup engineer was dismissed after AI-generated code caused a major production failure. Forced by management to use AI tools to meet tight deadlines, the developer integrated unverified code "chunks" that proved difficult to debug. The incident highlights the dangers of automated oversight and the pressure of AI-centric workplace metrics.
Mumbai, February 27: A software engineer at an AI-focused startup has been terminated after deploying AI-generated code that caused a critical production failure. The incident, shared by a colleague on Reddit, has ignited a fierce debate regarding "delusional" management expectations and the systemic risks of forcing developers to rely on automated tools to meet increasingly aggressive timelines.
According to the account, the engineering team was under immense pressure from upper management to maximise their use of AI coding assistants. One frontend engineer reported that performance reviews were increasingly based on "cursor usage" metrics rather than project milestones. The colleague noted, "I have had 1:1s which were entirely about how my ‘cursor usage was the lowest in the company’ even though I have never missed a deadline." Indian Startup Layoffs: 4,500 Jobs Cut Since July in India Amid AI Shift, Companies Undergo Massive Workforce Restructuring.
Official Viral Reddit Post by Techie Fired by Startup
Cautionary - Using AI in your job instead of understanding code got my colleague firedby
The Rise of 'Black Box' Coding Risks
The technical failure occurred when code generated via the Cursor AI tool was merged into the live system. While the engineer was initially qualified, the pressure of deadlines led to a shift from writing logic by hand to managing large blocks of AI-generated text. The colleague explained the shift in methodology: "In his case, he started understanding code in ‘chunks’. So, this function basically does this, even though we don’t know how."
This reliance on "chunks" created a "headache" where files grew to thousands of lines, making it nearly impossible to debug specific errors manually. The colleague warned that "AI does not care if the file is fifteen thousand lines [long]," which subsequently promotes a cycle of fixing further bugs via more AI generation rather than fundamental understanding.
Management Oversight and Startup Pressures
The situation was further exacerbated by a lack of human oversight at the managerial level. The faulty code was reportedly merged after a manager reviewed the submission using AI rather than performing a manual technical audit. When the system eventually failed, the team received a Slack call at 11:00 PM and spent the following day "trying to find and fix the problem" buried within the automated logic. Block Layoffs: 4,000 Employees Sacked by Jack Dorsey’s Fintech Firm, Affected To Receive 20 Weeks of Salary.
The developer was promptly fired following the incident, marking their second production-level bug. The whistleblower concluded the account by noting, "I am sure there are responsible ways to use AI... Just wanted to let yall know this happened." The case serves as a cautionary tale for startups attempting to replace traditional software engineering rigour with automated generation.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 27, 2026 03:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).