How 2 Youtubers Raised $500k With "Stolen" Code - PearAI Controversy Explained

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I misspoke they actually forked the github project called continue, not codium. my bad on that

[@javiermarti_author]

They're learning why "building in public" has traditionally not been the best idea.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

yep, build in public has its pros but definitely has its cons and this whole situation is def one of the cons

[@AshesWake-sf7uw]

​​@@YourAverageTechBro it's only a con when you cheat lol, otw it brings a lot of great people together 😊

[@ahmoin]

i've seen a lot of people succeed from building in public

[@cody_codes_youtube]

Dude thanks for summarizing this. I felt so lazy not keeping up with

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I rot my brain for you 🫡

[@cody_codes_youtube]

@@YourAverageTechBro 🫡

[@nang88]

temporarily misunderstood on X, comeback soon. our plan since the beginning, which we've talked about (kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmGyqp-tgd91h9k), is to build and innovate to simply bring the best AI code editor into the world so people can make what they want. we made mistakes and are learning from them. we were born for this, stay tuned :)

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Before you get all up in arms, watch the entire video so you can hear my take on this situation. TLDR: it's complicated and much more nuanced than people make it to be (this is just my opinion)

[@anonymeister123]

Good take!

[@EllenRipley1979]

I think this is way overblown tbh, in the end we all stand on the shoulders of giants (the giants being the open source community regarding the cs field). There are way more shady people that are exploiting customers and no one bats an eye. I think that the two guys could have fledged out the product more before releasing but right now I don't really see it as that bad imho

[@CodingPhase]

Open source is broken and the problem is that people use open source projects and make millions off the back of developers and most don’t even pay or donate anything.

[@thinkingcitizen]

cant hate on the guys bc they actually shipped something, hate on YC for making subpar investments!

[@deonrobinson4293]

Doesn’t make sense it not subpar

[@matthiasrossini]

I guess that's the challenge with building in public, especially when building a scrappy startup for developers 😅 Though I do agree, it feels like the standards of YC are dropping with each batch, to the point where it actually makes me not want to apply anymore. Thanks for making this video, good commentary on the controversy :D

[@hamm8934]

Its not even that they forked codium. They forked an AI wrapper of codium called Continue and did minor editing with so much attitude and snootiness. They didn't even do the AI wrapper integration. From their commit history, they just did ctrl F replace "continue" to "pearAI" and changed some font styles and colors. Being a small startup doesnt excuse their legal issues. Theyre in the wrong. Simple as that. They got caught unlike many others that should.

[@cristianfigueredo566]

I does not matter. You can do whatever you want with open source. Because it is open source😂

[@hamm8934]

@@cristianfigueredo566 It does matter, look at how the community reacted? So many engineers justifying this are living in some abstract context void of people. Open source is a *community*. The community punishes and ostracized bad actors - like these. "You can do whatever you want with open source." Oh like put malware in something? Like steal someone else's work and then parrot it as your own? Like be a bad actor? No you can't, just how you can't in society. You can break the law or a social norm. Go for it, you can. You are able to - but you will face the consequences. These people forked a fork of a fork, did nothing but minor css changes, got caught trying to use a license that is more limited than the original fork, and got caught. Again, they're in the wrong. Simple as that.

[@hamm8934]

@@cristianfigueredo566 That is not how a community of human's operates. Open source is a *community*. There are consequences for being a bad actor in a community. They are facing those consequences. Just because you can violate a law or social contract, doesn't mean you won't be held accountable.

[@AshesWake-sf7uw]

​@@cristianfigueredo566 do you know about licenses!?

[@hamm8934]

@@aminbusiness3139 Where is it stated that Cursor forked Continue?

[@jantube358]

Very interesting topic. It would be good if you said what the biggest differences between Codeium, PearAI and Cursor are so the viewers know "who is who".

[@LongLivesteph]

Its not bad or evil. it just feels weird. If i told my son he could use my pool anytime and he started charging his friends money to use it. Or water bottle company taming water from municipal and then up charging it. Neither are bad or evil, just weird.

[@MateoC-f4n]

welcome to life i guess? take a look at the market. what do you see? yeah, super markets reselling apples for 10x their farm-value. do you people live like in a different world or what

[@Bob-pd8mt]

​@@MateoC-f4napples aren't free. They aren't reselling something at a higher price, they're charging money for something that is free and open to the public.

[@MateoC-f4n]

@@Bob-pd8mt "free and open to the public"? You need to pay for internet in order to access software, you'd also need to pay for an electronic device to access it. Free and open to the public would mean it's literally free to access said resource. Nothing is free. Reselling (even of "free" stuff such as water) is a practice that has been around since forever.

[@Bob-pd8mt]

@@MateoC-f4n must be a bot

[@MateoC-f4n]

@@Bob-pd8mt you're now years old when you discovered you pay for the water you drink (supposedly "free and open to the public"). I'd rather be a bot than an ignorant

[@pedromussi]

lol. if the changes they made in the code improve peoples lives / make people money, there's no reason not to charge for it. there's no logic in saying that if you build on top of something free, you shouldn't charge anything.

[@Leto2ndAtreides]

Meh... The whole point of opensource is that other people can build on top of it. Has Microsoft been complaining about Cursor forking VS Code? No. The internet is infested with oceans of mediocrity... You create progress however you do. The important question is whether or not they manage to produce something more worthwhile than Cursor, or VS Code with its incoming AI features. - As for the license they generated with ChatGPT not being good enough... smh. Until and unless they charge for it, and they implied that it was likely to be free... It just doesn't matter how legally perfect they get their license to be. Tech Twitter is honestly an embarrassment at times.

[@nang88]

temporarily misunderstood on X, comeback soon. our plan since the beginning, which we've talked about (kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmGyqp-tgd91h9k), is to build and innovate to simply bring the best AI code editor into the world so people can make what they want. I won't lie, we made mistakes and are genuinely learning from them. we were born for this, stay tuned :)

[@YourAverageTechBro]

rooting for you guys - tech twitter is lowkey the worst with this kind of stuff and 99% of people on there aren't real builders lol. excited to see the growth of your guys' product!

[@KingKikikoi]

Thankyou for this summary. 👍

[@mariiii97]

They forked Continue not Codeium

[@poulticegeist]

Yeah. Not sure why make a video on something you have no idea about. This is why I hate tech influencers and sub mid wannabes like this guy even more

[@tyengineer0]

Is Continue a better os platform compared to codeium? It’s essentially just a wrapper🤷🏻‍♂️

[@amanansari3883]

That's not controversy that called marketing.

[@hamoodhabibi7026]

Fryingpan is awesome

[@BaeristaVR]

Im their fan. Building startup

[@slim408]

more or less Cursor is doing the same thing.

[@johndevnoza4223]

what about Cursor.............. bruhh

[@AdityaKrishna-k8w]

I rather use the content marketing blueprint

[@3FatesLive]

dudes AC broke mid video lol

[@achaco760]

so can ya'll build the same thing just like that? doubt it

[@sturgeo6298]

These aren’t the issues though, it’s not about forking open source or even really misrepresenting themselves to the public. Did they misrepresent themselves to get into the top accelerator program?

[@bluepomodoro3679]

Lol ngl, this video could have been summarised in 3 mins. I think you mentioned over and over it's a "gray area" at least 7-10 times 😂

[@YourAverageTechBro]

True I was just yapping like an mfer

[@jofus521]

How’s this much different than cursor? Open source on top of open source. It feels like Cursor is just reverse-hyping the pearAI product. Cursor is the definition of what everybody is complaining about here, but folks are still using cursor.

[@sunnyboi1221]

I will never hire them as a software engineer ever.

[@matthewchristoph4000]

Why not? They have accolades I wish I had

[@rmdashrfv]

The best thing would have been for them to wait to launch until they had more differentiation OR have built it themselves. It could have been 99% the same as Continue or Cursor and there would have been virtually no blowback had they built it themselves instead of forking.

[@RandomShowerThoughts]

Being a startup doesn’t mean you can’t do your due diligence, I created an app and still did all of that research

[@afkaito749]

Dude there’s several inaccuracies in the content of the vid ( they never forked codium it was continue ). Trust is the most important thing to have with your audience & you’re eroding that . Now I’m starting to wonder if the other things I’ve heard from you are ill-informed research too lol

[@YourAverageTechBro]

you 100% should not listen to me i'm just a random dude. my apologies on getting that detail wrong, that's on me

[@k0b0yash1]

@@YourAverageTechBro Respect on taking the feedback well and accountability, improve your sourcing and final review process. 👍

[@Fran-kc2gu]

No empathy for thefts

[@Zuhan_1]

advice: dont keep repeating the same thing over and over again to make the video longer.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I'm a professional yapper you can't tell me what to do

[@techwithtobi_]

most people are just mad because they got into YC, they are jealous 😢 please don't attack me

[@techwithtobi_]

​@learntoplumbthe sarcasm 😂

[@starX7995]

bro they kinda look like you 🤣

[@pizzaemma_yt4559]

Asian type shi😂

[@xtactic]

I recommend you watch these guys "build".

[@matthewchristoph4000]

Care to elaborate on what you mean or are alluding to?