In a bold and controversial move, 21-year-old Chungin “Roy” Lee has raised $5.3 million in seed funding for his AI startup, Cluely, a tool designed to help users “cheat on everything.” The funding comes from prominent investors Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures.
During job interviews, Lee and co-founder Neel Shanmugam created an AI tool called “cheat on everything.” The tool, first known as Interview Coder, has evolved into Cluely, a browser-based AI assistant that discreetly supports users during interviews, exams, and even sales calls.
Cluely has stirred controversy online with its provocative launch video, in which the AI assistant helps Lee fabricate answers during a date—a scenario some called straight out of Black Mirror. Still, others saw it as a clever way to highlight real-world use cases.
The startup argues it’s no different from tools like calculators or spellcheckers, which were once considered cheating but are now standard.
Both Lee and Shanmugam have since dropped out of Columbia, as confirmed by the university’s student newspaper. Columbia declined to comment, citing privacy laws.
Despite ethical concerns, Cluely has gained attention for questioning outdated methods like LeetCode in technical interviews. Lee even claims the tool helped him land an internship at Amazon, though the company states all applicants must agree not to use unauthorized tools.
Cluely’s rise highlights a new frontier in AI’s role in education and hiring and it’s just getting started.
