Robinhood CEO says the majority of the company's new code is written by AI, with 'close to 100%' adoption from engineers

According to Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood, the company's engineering team has embraced artificial intelligence to an extraordinary degree. During a recent appearance on the 20VC podcast, Tenev disclosed that almost all of the engineers at Robinhood are utilizing AI-driven code editors, making it challenging to differentiate between human-written and AI-generated code. Tenev estimated that approximately 50% of the new code produced at Robinhood is generated by AI—a figure notably higher than those reported by tech giants like Microsoft and Google, whose leaders have suggested that around 30% of their new code is AI-created. He admitted that this estimate is somewhat vague due to the rapid evolution of AI coding tools, stating, "We've transitioned from GitHub Copilot, which functions more as an autocomplete tool, to systems like Cursor and Windsurf, where a substantial portion of the code is crafted by AI." The CEO speculated that only a minority of the new code at Robinhood is actually written by human engineers. This shift toward AI-assisted coding comes at a time when Robinhood’s stock has surged over 177% since the beginning of the year, driven by various factors including the expansion of its cryptocurrency offerings and the introduction of new products like a predictions-market hub. Tenev highlighted that AI has played a significant role in enhancing the company's operational efficiency and cost management. He remarked, "While we haven't disclosed the full extent of our internal AI usage, the impact on our teams—ranging from software engineering to customer support—has been monumental."