Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he wants 50% of the exchange’s daily code to be produced with AI by October, up from roughly 40% today. Armstrong posted the target on Twitter, adding that AI-written code must still be reviewed and that some areas aren’t suitable for automation.
Armstrong has publicly pushed for broader AI adoption inside the company and acknowledged tough management moves — including firing engineers who resisted AI tools — later calling those actions “heavy-handed.” His message: use AI responsibly to speed development while retaining human oversight.
The move mirrors a wider industry shift. OpsLevel reported that as of June 2025, 94% of tech companies had staff using AI coding assistants, and Y Combinator said a quarter of its Winter 2025 cohort relied on AI for 95% of their code. These tools can boost productivity and accelerate time to market.
But AI-assisted development raises practical risks. The trend known as “vibe coding” — accepting AI suggestions wholesale without understanding them — can erode developer expertise and increase the chance of overlooked bugs or security flaws. Experts also warn about data and compensation issues: if models were trained on human-written code, contributors may see little benefit from the value those datasets create.
For Coinbase, the benefits could include faster feature delivery and lower engineering costs; the trade-offs include talent friction, potential security exposure, and questions about model training data. Armstrong’s deadline sets a clear internal priority, but it also puts pressure on teams to balance speed with careful review.
Source: Decrypt. Read the original coverage for full details.