Techie called ‘money-minded’ by CEO for asking salary hike after cutting down AI costs by 95%. 'You broke the manager's heart'
Published on: June 16, 2026, 6:53 p.m. | Source: The Economic Times
A Reddit post by an AI engineering intern has gone viral after he claimed he was fired from a small startup shortly after requesting a salary hike that had allegedly been promised during onboarding. The student said he had helped build the company's AI infrastructure, reduced API costs by 95% and contributed to client acquisition, but his request for better pay was met with resistance. According to the post, the internship was later terminated due to a "mismatch in expectations," and the CEO reportedly called him "money-minded" and said he had "broke the manager's heart."
