Minecraft's reclusive billionaire creator has gone from ‘reject AI’ to vibe coding: 'Time to eat some crow'
Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson has shifted his stance on AI-assisted programming, moving from vocal opposition to experimenting with tools like Claude. Persson cited difficulties in hiring human programmers as a primary motivator for his change in perspective.
Why it matters
The shift highlights the growing adoption of AI coding tools even among industry skeptics, reflecting broader trends in software development labor markets.
Minecraft creator Markus Persson asked: "Can I still make fun of vibe coders if I become one?" Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images Minecraft creator Markus Persson said AI coding advocates were "incompetent or evil" in January. By July, he was trying out coding with AI — and had found use cases. By August, he said it might be time to "eat some crow." Markus Persson is an AI convert. The billionaire creator of Minecraft , who's commonly known as "Notch," was once fiercely opposed to using AI for coding. In January, he wrote that it was "an incredibly bad idea still, and anyone advocating for it is either incompetent or evil." Coding was about "logic," not about "typing," Persson wrote. Then, in April, he responded after someone hacked Mojang Studios cofounder Jakob Porsér's X account. Mojang runs Minecraft and was acquired by Microsoft for $2.5 billion in 2014.
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