How this 21-year-old is helping techies ‘crack’ online job interviews

A 21-year-old Columbia University student has created a tool that helps software engineers use artificial intelligence to crack virtual technical job interviews. Chungin "Roy" Lee founded Interview Coder, a service that provides real-time AI assistance during coding interviews while remaining undetectable to interviewers.
"Everyone programs nowadays with the help of AI," said Lee. "It doesn't make sense to have an interview format that assumes you don't have the use of AI."
The service, which costs $60 per month, is reportedly on track to hit $1 million in annual recurring revenue by mid-May, according to CNBC.
Lee claims he received internship offers from Amazon, Meta, and TikTok after using his own software to cheat during their technical interviews. The companies later rescinded their offers after he posted videos demonstrating how he passed an Amazon interview using AI.
"I thought I wanted to work at a big tech company and spent 600 hours practicing for Leetcode," Lee told CNBC. "It made me miserable, and I almost stopped programming because of how much I didn't like it."
Tech companies are struggling to adapt. Google CEO Sundar Pichai suggested during a February town hall that hiring managers consider returning to in-person interviews to combat AI cheating. Other companies like Deloitte and Anthropic have already made similar changes.
Henry Kirk, a software developer who hosted a virtual coding challenge, discovered that more than 50% of applicants were cheating. "The problem is now I don't trust the results as much," Kirk said.
Lee's tool is marketed as "invisible to all screen-recording softwares" and aims to disrupt the traditional Leetcode interview process used by major tech companies.
When asked if he worries about software engineers losing the trust of the tech industry, Lee responded: "My reaction to that is any company that is slow to respond to market changes will get hurt and that's the fault of the company. If there are better tools, then it's their fault for not resorting to the better alternative to exist. I don't feel guilty at all for not catering to a company's inability to adapt."
Columbia University has opened disciplinary proceedings against Lee, according to documents viewed by CNBC.