Founder fires top engineer after AI-built feature raised data security concerns: ‘He was terminated within the hour’

Artificial intelligence is changing how fast software can be built, but one founder’s dramatic decision has sparked a fresh debate about speed versus safety.The post was shared Matthias Schmidt, a founder based in the European Union (@Matthias Schmidt/X)A viral post on X (formerly Twitter) described how a company feature, expected to take eight weeks, was completed overnight with the help of AI tools.What should have been a moment of celebration instead turned into a serious internal crisis over data security, company policy, and the risks of relying on external AI platforms.The post was shared Matthias Schmidt, a founder based in the European Union, who recounted how he asked one of his most trusted engineers to begin work on a new feature on a Monday.Given the scope, he estimated the task would take nearly two months to complete.However, Tuesday morning, the engineer messaged saying the work was already done. Surprised at the speed, the founder initially thought it was a joke. But after reviewing the feature, he found that it worked perfectly.“I thought he was joking, but the feature worked perfectly,” Schmidt wrote.Engineer fired for AI-built feature:When asked how the task had been completed so quickly, the engineer reportedly said he had used AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to build it.That answer immediately raised alarm bells. The founder became concerned that sensitive company data may have been shared with external AI systems, potentially hosted on servers outside the European Union.“I called legal and HR into the room immediately. He was terminated within the hour,” the founder wrote.The completed feature, despite functioning well, was also removed from the product entirely.“We will rebuild it from scratch, without using any AI,” he adds.Also Read: Techie left speechless when asked to explain AI-generated code he submitted in PR: ‘There was a long pause’Check out the post here:Here’s how people reacted to the post:X users reacted to the post with sharply divided views. Some supported the founder’s strict approach, saying data protection and compliance should come first.Others felt the decision was too extreme, arguing that AI is now a standard tool in software development.One of the users commented, “There are no shortcuts in life; when will the world outside Europe realise this?”Also Read: Techie admits struggling to code without AI tools: ‘I don’t think I’ve learned much.’A second user commented, “The feature worked in 8 hours instead of 8 weeks. That’s a 98% productivity increase.”A third user commented, “These tools are about leverage, not about taking shortcuts. Fire the process gap, not the engineer.”“I would sue him for emotional dress if I were the CEO of that company,” another user commented.