Zig Creator Calls Spade a Spade, Anthropic Blows Smoke
raymyers.org
July 13, 2026
15 min read
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80/100
Summary
Anthropic has raised $132 billion in investment and is approaching an IPO valued at over $1 trillion. The company is campaigning to influence perceptions about the future of software engineering.
Key Takeaways
- Anthropic has raised $132 billion in investment and is approaching an IPO valued over $1 trillion, despite not showing profitability.
- Andrew Kelley, the creator of Zig, criticized Anthropic's narrative that coding and software engineering will soon become obsolete.
- Bun, a TypeScript runtime, was originally written in Zig but has recently been ported to Rust following its acquisition by Anthropic.
- The migration of Bun from Zig to Rust has sparked controversy and discussions within the programming community regarding the implications of AI on software development.
Community Sentiment
Positives
- Anthropic's technical details about rewriting Bun in Rust show a commitment to improving user experience, which some commenters appreciate.
- The discussion about battle-tested code highlights a crucial aspect of software development: mature codebases like Zig's offer reliability that fresh rewrites often lack.
- Some commenters see Andrew's honesty as refreshing, valuing transparency in a field where marketing often overshadows technical merit.
Concerns
- Many believe Andrew's post was more of a personal attack than a constructive critique, raising concerns about the community's health and leadership.
- Critics argue that the Rust rewrite lacks the battle-testing that the existing Zig codebase has, questioning the rationale behind the migration.
- The perception that Anthropic's motives are driven by corporate strategy rather than genuine improvement raises ethical concerns about their practices.
