Student founders raise $5.3M for AI tool that enables exam and interview cheating
A 21-year-old Columbia University student developed an AI tool called Interview Coder to cheat in job interviews, was suspended after publicly demonstrating it, and subsequently co-founded Cluely, raising $5.3 million to commercialize a broader AI cheating tool for exams, interviews and business calls.
What happened
Chungin Lee, a 21-year-old student at Columbia University, developed Interview Coder, an AI tool to cheat in video job interviews for software engineering roles, and shared it on X in March 2025, receiving offers from Meta, TikTok, Capital One and Amazon.
After Lee posted a YouTube video demonstrating the tool in an Amazon job interview, Amazon alerted Columbia University, and Lee and his collaborator were suspended by the university.
The viral post attracted investors and Lee co-founded Cluely in San Francisco, raising $5.3 million from Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures to develop a broader AI cheating tool.
Reported impact
Cluely's AI tool enables users to cheat on exams, business calls and job interviews using a hidden, undetectable browser window that provides real-time answers.
Offers from Meta, TikTok, Capital One and Amazon to Lee were withdrawn after the YouTube demonstration became public.
Index analysis
The tool is designed to be invisible to examiners and interviewers, providing real-time responses that make it undetectable during assessments and hiring interviews.
Governance controls
Columbia University suspended Lee and his collaborator after learning of the cheating tool through Amazon's alert.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.