Overview
- Cluely, an AI tool designed to provide real-time assistance in live interactions, has officially launched with 70,000 users and over $3M in annual recurring revenue.
- The startup was co-founded by Chungin 'Roy' Lee, who was suspended from Columbia University for posting disciplinary hearing materials related to an earlier version of the tool.
- Cluely raised $5.3M in seed funding from investors including Abstract Ventures and Susa Ventures, highlighting strong financial backing despite ethical criticisms.
- Users have reported issues such as latency, generic or incorrect outputs, and privacy risks, prompting the creators to implement performance updates.
- The app has sparked debates about the ethics of AI-enabled 'cheating,' with its creators defending it as a disruptive innovation akin to calculators or spellcheck.