Chamath Palihapitiya just rang the loudest alarm yet for the future of software engineers. Responding to Replit CEO Amjad Masad’s chilling remark—“I no longer think you should learn to code”—Palihapitiya didn’t downplay it. He doubled down.
Unfortunate but accurate, the billionaire investor and CEO of Social Capital wrote. According to him, the engineer’s role as we know it is vanishing. Within 18 months, he warns, engineers won’t be builders—they’ll be supervisors. And tools made for them? “Roadkill for the model makers’ product roadmap.”
That wasn’t a throwaway comment. Palihapitiya, worth over $1.2 billion and a former Facebook executive, is deeply embedded in Silicon Valley’s most forward-looking conversations. When he publicly confirms a collapse this dramatic, the world of software should take notice.
His comment came in response to a video shared by Masad who said we’re heading into a world where almost all code is written by AI.
“If the optimization path continues, it would be a waste of time to learn to code,” he said in the clip. He didn’t rule out learning entirely—but reframed it. “Learn how to think. Learn how to break down problems. Learn how to communicate clearly—with both humans and machines.”
Masad later acknowledged the irony. After years promoting code literacy, he now believes the window is closing. “I understand all the cope. It was hard to arrive at this conclusion. There are obvious domain exceptions, but the trend is hard to miss,” he posted.
The reactions poured in. Some agreed, calling it a wake-up call for educators and tech workers alike. Others pushed back, arguing that foundational knowledge of coding is still essential to using AI tools effectively—even if the syntax becomes obsolete.
But the broader shift is already in motion. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently revealed that 25% of the company’s new code is now AI-generated. OpenAI’s Sam Altman has similarly said that AI is already handling half the coding work at many firms.