Cheating Detectors Contribute to Threats Against Schools: Cluely’s Roy Lee Explains Why He’s Not Concerned
Cluely, an AI company that analyzes online discussion using a surreptitious browser window, has received press for a provocative claim that its “undetectability” option helps users “cheat in everything.”
The company’s co-founder, Roy Lee, was suspended from Columbia University for saying that he had used Cluely — originally called InterviewCoder — to “cheat” during a coding test when he was applying for a developer position at Amazon.
On Tuesday, another Columbia University student, Patrick Shen, said on the nascent social platform X (formerly Twitter) that he had made a product called Truely to ensnare cheaters on Cluely. Marketed as the “anti-Cluely,” Truely says that it is able to identify unauthorised applications running in the background of an online meeting – for example, a job interview.
But Lee didn’t appear to be fazed by Truely’s launch.
“We don’t care whether we can be detected,” Lee told TechCrunch last week. “Cluely is not just about undetectability. It’s just a nice add-on. Actually most companies disable invisibility because it can become a legal minefield.”
Replying to Shen on X, Lee personally expressed his admiration for Truely and believes Cluely “will actually even start encouraging consumers to be more transparent about what they use.”
Since landing a $15 million Series A round from Andreessen Horowitz in October, Cluely has repositioned its marketing away from “cheating.” The company’s motto recently evolved from:
“Cheat on everything”
to
“Everything you need. Before you ask. … It feels like cheating.”
Cluely’s past messaging has been characterized as rage-bait marketing to get a reaction. Now the company is presenting itself as though it not only recognizes the reputation of its tech as one that enables cheating, but actively plays it up.
But for Lee, Cluely’s aims extend far beyond cheating. His goal? To replace ChatGPT.
“Each time you visit chatgpt.com, what we’re trying to do is to create a world where you go to Cluely instead,” Lee said. “Cluely operates literally the same as ChatGPT — it just also knows what’s happening on your screen and listens to what’s happening on your audio.”
