From Suspension to Startup Stardom: Columbia Student’s $5.3M AI Cheating Tool Shakes Up Tech

In a saga that reads like a modern-day tech rebellion, 21-year-old Chungin “Roy” Lee has transformed a college suspension into a $5.3 million startup success. On April 20, 2025, Lee announced that his San Francisco-based company, Cluely, secured seed funding from Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures for an AI tool brazenly marketed to “cheat on everything.” What began as a controversial tool to game coding interviews has sparked debates about ethics, innovation, and the future of assessments in an AI-driven world. Here’s the story of how a Columbia University dropout turned academic disgrace into a disruptive venture—and what it means for the tech landscape.

The Spark: A Tool Born from Frustration

Roy Lee, a computer science student at Columbia University, was no stranger to the grueling gauntlet of technical job interviews. Like many aspiring software engineers, he spent countless hours grinding through LeetCode, a platform notorious for its complex coding problems used by tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Google to screen candidates. Frustrated by what he saw as an outdated and overly punitive process, Lee, alongside his friend and fellow Columbia student Neel Shanmugam, developed Interview Coder in late 2024. This AI-powered tool was designed to provide real-time assistance during virtual coding interviews, offering code solutions, debugging, and explanations via a hidden in-browser window undetectable by platforms like Zoom or Google Meet.

Lee’s creation wasn’t just a personal hack—it was a statement. “Everyone programs with AI nowadays,” he told CNBC in March 2025. “It doesn’t make sense to have an interview format that assumes you don’t have AI.” He claimed Interview Coder helped him secure internship offers from Amazon, Meta, and TikTok, though these were rescinded after he publicly boasted about his methods, including a now-deleted YouTube video showcasing the tool in action during an Amazon interview. The video, which garnered 100,000 views before Amazon’s copyright claim took it down, caught the attention of Columbia University, setting off a chain of events that would redefine Lee’s future.

The Fallout: Suspension and Viral Fame

In March 2025, Columbia University suspended Lee for a year, citing “publishing unauthorized documents” from a disciplinary hearing and posting photos of university staff on social media, actions that violated an agreement he had signed. The university had already probed him for “facilitation of academic dishonesty,” suspecting Interview Coder could be used to cheat on academic exams, though Lee insisted its purpose was strictly for job interviews. His co-founder, Neel Shanmugam, faced similar disciplinary action. Rather than fight the suspension, both 21-year-olds dropped out, with Lee telling Business Insider he saw no path to finishing his degree.

The suspension didn’t silence Lee—it amplified him. His X thread detailing the saga went viral, racking up 500,000 views and turning him into a folk hero among coders disillusioned with LeetCode’s gatekeeping. Supporters launched a petition titled “Clemency for Roy Lee, Kicked Out of Columbia for Leading the LeetCode Rebellion.” Lee leaned into the controversy, moving to San Francisco and rebranding Interview Coder as Cluely, a startup with a provocative mission: to help users “cheat” on job interviews, exams, sales calls, and more.

Cluely’s Rise: $5.3 Million and a Polarizing Vision

Cluely’s April 2025 launch was a masterclass in viral marketing. Lee’s announcement of the $5.3 million seed round, coupled with a sleek but controversial launch video, sparked both awe and outrage. The video, likened to a Black Mirror episode, showed Lee using Cluely’s AI to fib about his age and art knowledge during a date at an upscale restaurant—a stunt that flopped but grabbed attention. Cluely’s website boldly compares its tool to calculators and spellcheckers, framing “cheating” as a misunderstood form of technological progress. “Every time technology makes people smarter, the world panics,” Lee wrote on LinkedIn. “AI is the bridge to a world where humans grow with machines.”

The tool itself is deceptively simple: a macOS app (with a free tier and a $20/month Pro subscription) that runs in a hidden browser window, listening to video calls and providing real-time answers via an unnamed cloud-based AI. Cluely claims it’s undetectable by screen-sharing or webcam monitoring, a feature that helped it surpass $3 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by April 2025. With 5 million impressions from Lee’s X posts and $20,000 in revenue within 24 hours of launch, Cluely’s growth is undeniable, even if its ethics are contentious.

The Backlash: Ethics and Legal Concerns

Cluely’s rise hasn’t been without critics. On Reddit’s r/leetcode, users called Lee’s tool “dogshit” and a “wrapper around GPT,” accusing him of glorifying cheating while others argued it exploits a broken system. “Fuck cheaters, yes LeetCode is brutal but this is not a solution,” one user wrote. Companies like Amazon have doubled down, requiring candidates to affirm they won’t use unauthorized tools, while Google is reportedly moving away from virtual interviews to curb AI-assisted cheating.

Legal concerns loom large. Cluely’s operation—recording video calls and sending data to the cloud—raises privacy issues. Some U.S. states require consent for call recordings, a step unlikely to be taken by users cheating on interviews or exams. Critics also warn that Cluely’s “undetectable” claim may be short-lived. A recent r/webdev post claimed a developer created a detection tool for Cluely with “a few lines of Swift code,” though its efficacy remains unproven.

The Bigger Picture: AI and the Future of Assessments

Lee’s story taps into a broader debate about AI’s role in education and hiring. As generative AI tools like ChatGPT and LeetCode Wizard proliferate, institutions and employers are scrambling to adapt. Lee argues that LeetCode-style interviews, which prioritize rote memorization over practical skills, are obsolete in an AI-augmented world. Some agree: Meta engineer Ryan Peterman wrote in a Substack newsletter that LeetCode problems are “purposely harder” than real-world coding tasks, fueling demand for tools like Cluely.

Yet, defenders of traditional assessments argue that Lee’s tool undermines meritocracy. “Ethics? Are you unsure why building a tool to cheat would be a problem for a university trying to build a good reputation?” a Reddit user quipped. Others propose solutions like in-person interviews or open-ended questions to test problem-solving over memorized code. As one Slashdot commenter noted, “Real life is open book… but you should be able to articulate how you’d approach the problem.”

What’s Next for Cluely and Lee?

At 21, Roy Lee is both a villain and a visionary. His $5.3 million war chest and growing user base signal that Cluely is more than a gimmick—it’s a bet on AI reshaping how we evaluate skills. Whether it’s a dystopian cheat code or a revolutionary tool depends on perspective. For now, Lee and Shanmugam are all-in, even distributing “F*ck LeetCode” condoms to cement their rebel brand. But as detection tools emerge and scrutiny intensifies, Cluely’s future hinges on staying one step ahead.

Lee’s journey from Columbia’s disciplinary hearings to San Francisco’s startup scene is a testament to audacity and opportunism. “I don’t think this is cheating,” he told The Daily Star. “Humanity is at an inflection point.” Whether Cluely becomes a footnote or a game-changer, it’s clear the AI revolution is forcing us to rethink trust, fairness, and what it means to compete in a world where machines are always listening.

Sources: TechCrunch, Business Insider, CNBC, NBC News, The Daily Star, Reddit, X posts