January 8, 2026
Code, keffiyehs, and comment wars
He was called a 'terrorist sympathizer.' Now his AI company is valued at $3B
Guns, keffiyeh, and a $3B glow‑up — rebel founder or PR puff
TLDR: Replit’s outspoken founder just landed a $3B valuation after raising $250M, and the internet instantly split: critics call the coverage a puff piece, wince at the shooting‑range optics, and dredge up a 2021 intern spat, while supporters praise a contrarian who ships tools that turn plain English into apps.
An AI founder wears a keffiyeh to a shooting range, says he’ll “apologize to absolutely nobody,” and then raises $250 million at a $3 billion valuation — and the comments went feral. Some readers noped out immediately — one bailed “after ‘shooting range’” — while others rolled their eyes at what they saw as an “interesting puff piece.” The vibe: tech meets culture war, and nobody brought chill.
Critics resurfaced old baggage, pointing to a 2021 controversy where Masad allegedly threatened to sue a former intern over an open‑source project, linking receipts here. Word nerds even fought about punctuation, arguing the story shouldn’t use scare quotes around the word “genocide,” and that it should simply say Masad believes it’s a genocide. Another heated thread framed him as selectively principled depending on who’s in power, sparking a religion-and-politics dogpile. Fans countered that he’s a true contrarian who spoke up even when investors called him a “terrorist sympathizer,” and still shipped a tool that turns plain English prompts into working apps. Skeptics fired back with market reality checks: crowded rivals, AI hype risk, and “cool story, but beat Lovable first.” The memes? “Should I wear a keffiyeh to the earnings call?” and “These are some literal bullet points” got the biggest LOLs.
Key Points
- •Replit raised $250 million in September at a $3 billion valuation from Prysm, Andreessen Horowitz, Amex Ventures, and others.
- •Replit built an AI agent that turns plain-English prompts into pre-coded applications, aiming to make software creation accessible.
- •Amjad Masad’s vocal stance on Gaza led to backlash in Silicon Valley, including being labeled a “terrorist sympathizer.”
- •The AI coding sector is highly active: Lovable raised $330 million; Base44 was acquired by Wix for $80 million; sector funding reached $4.7 billion in the U.S. last year (PitchBook).
- •Replit’s prospects are tied to the AI boom and require substantial capital to develop and run its models amid intense competition.