Occurred: August 2019
Page published: March 2023 | Last updated: June 2025
Claims by Indian start-up Engineer.ai that it had developed a highly automated, AI-enabled app development platform for small businesses was revealed to be far from the truth.
The Wall Street Journal found when talking to Engineer.ai (since renamed Builder.ai) employees and former employees that it used humans rather than AI to develop its app, and grossly inflated its marketing rhetoric to attract customers and investors.
The company had aggressively trumped its 'human-assisted' AI services, with Engineer.ai founder and CEO Sachin Dev Duggal claiming that 82 percent of the work on the event’s app was done by AI in under an hour, and that human engineers worked for five weeks to finish the rest of it.
Duggal responded to the WSJ report by saying the company had never claimed to offer 'automated software development'.
February 2019. Engineer.ai chief business officer Robert Holdheim filed a wrongful termination complaint in a Los Angeles court alleging the company had been exaggerating its AI abilities to attract the funding it required to develop its technology
August 2019. Media reports accuse of Engineer.ai of relying on humans to develop and manage its services
November 2019. Engineer.ai re-brands as Builder.ai
February 2025. Sachin Dev Duggal resigns as CEO
June 2025. Builder.ai files for insolvency
Developer: Engineer.ai
Country: India
Sector: Business/professional services
Purpose: Automate app development
Technology: Machine learning
Issue: Integrity; Transparency