According to Futurism, Y Combinator has invested in a startup called Chad IDE that’s specifically designed for “vibe coding” with AI assistance. The tool’s main innovation is providing built-in brainrot content—including gambling apps like Stake, dating apps like Tinder, and social media platforms like TikTok and X—during the downtime while AI generates code. Founder Richard Wang claims developers waste valuable time switching to their phones during these brief AI inference periods. Early beta users reportedly saved 15 minutes per hour by using Chad’s integrated distraction system. The platform automatically ends brainrot sessions when it’s time to return to coding work. Not everyone’s impressed though—tech investor Jordi Hays calls it “rage baiting” as product strategy.
The business of brainrot
Here’s the thing about Chad IDE—it’s essentially monetizing developer distraction. The business model appears to be targeting that exact moment when your attention span collapses and you reach for your phone. They’re basically saying: instead of fighting the brainrot, let’s just build it right into the workflow. And honestly? There’s something brutally honest about that approach.
But let’s talk about the actual value proposition. Saving 15 minutes per hour sounds impressive until you consider what you’re actually saving that time for. Is it for more productive coding? Or just more efficient consumption of low-quality content? The founders seem to think they’re solving a real productivity problem, but critics like Hays argue they’ve just moved rage baiting from marketing into the product itself.
The rage bait economy
Jordi Hays makes a fascinating point about how Chad represents a new frontier in product strategy. When your main differentiator is built-in gambling and dating apps, you’re not just courting controversy—you’re building your business on it. And in today’s attention economy, that might actually work. Controversy drives engagement, engagement drives metrics, metrics drive funding.
Think about it—how many AI coding tools have launched recently? Dozens? Hundreds? Standing out is brutally difficult. So if you can’t compete on technical excellence, maybe competing on sheer audacity is the play. The fact that this got Y Combinator funding tells you everything about what investors are looking for right now—anything that generates buzz, even if that buzz is mostly people praying for your downfall.
Where this is headed
I can’t help but wonder if this is the future of productivity software. Are we heading toward a world where every professional tool comes with built-in distractions? Will accountants get slot machines in their spreadsheets? Will lawyers get TikTok feeds in their document review software?
The timing here is interesting too. We’re in this weird moment where AI is supposed to make us more productive, but often just creates different kinds of workflow interruptions. Chad’s approach is basically: lean into the interruption rather than fight it. Whether that’s genius or disastrous probably depends on your tolerance for what Hays calls “product-level rage baiting.”
One thing’s for sure—in a market saturated with AI coding tools, being the one that everyone’s talking about (even if they’re criticizing you) might just be the smartest business move of all. Even if that conversation is mostly about how your product encourages gambling during work hours.
