‘Beg for reimbursement’: Software developer flags ‘peak extortion’ as startup makes staff pay for company’s AI tool

A software developer working at a product-based startup has accused his company of exploiting employees by making them pay for Cursor IDE, an AI-powered coding assistant, to improve code coverage targets.

In a detailed Reddit post, the developer explained how the management’s push for faster productivity turned into what he called “peak employee extortion.”

He wrote that the issue began when management discovered Cursor and started “nagging” developers to write more unit tests on the codebase to reach an 80% test coverage goal.

“Recently they came to know about Cursor IDE and they have been nagging us for some time to write unit tests on our codebase. They figured the developers can quickly use Cursor to write the test cases and reach 80% coverage,” he said.

He added that instead of providing access to the tool through company accounts, management told each developer to purchase a subscription themselves.

“They initially told the devs to buy the $20 monthly subscription for two months from their own pockets and quickly improve the coverage. The charges will eventually be reimbursed by the company,” he wrote.

The developer and his colleagues went ahead and bought the subscription, expecting the company to keep its word. But when reimbursement requests started reaching the accounts team, the management changed its tune.

He wrote further that the company suddenly decided to attach new conditions to the reimbursement process.

“When people started to raise reimbursement requests to the accounts team, the management suddenly stopped it and added a condition — every dev needs to provide a report on how he used Cursor, how many unit tests he wrote, and what was his contribution to the coverage number. The reimbursement will not happen for the individuals who don’t submit the data or if they are not able to justify their use,” the post continued.

He shared that this new rule made it feel like the company was forcing developers to spend their own money on a company requirement, and then “beg” to get it back.

“So essentially we are being forced to purchase the subscription from our pockets, use it for company work, beg for reimbursement for something which they asked us to spend on them,” he wrote. “If this isn’t peak employee extortion, then what is?” he added.

The post quickly went viral on Reddit, drawing widespread criticism of the company’s behavior. Many users shared their disbelief at how management could push a mandatory work expense onto employees.

One commenter pointed out how AI pressure and the weak job market were pushing employees into silence: “They know well that the job market is fucked due to AI, but it’s going so low which baffles me. Unfortunately, the employees are silently accepting their nonsense without any fight,” the user said.

Another user was more direct in their criticism: “What kinda lala company is this? It’s really weird to ask employees to purchase something the company requires from their own pocket and then make them beg for reimbursement,” they wrote.

A third person added sharply: “I guess both CEO and CTO are Indians because they can only go this low. If not, escalate this to the highest possible level.”

Other Redditors chimed in with their experiences, saying that while AI tools are becoming standard in tech companies, most employers provide official licenses and access — instead of making staff pay for them personally.

One developer shared his own experience at another firm: “We have been provided with multiple AI tools/platforms in our company. They definitely wanted to see productivity improvement, and the tools are capable enough of doing that if rightly used,” he wrote.

Another user reflected on how the AI shift could change the entire industry in the long run: “The bigger problem is how these tools are going to change the dynamics of the industry. Down the line, we will not have these kinds in the industry,” he said.