Minecraft's reclusive billionaire creator has gone from ‘reject AI’ to vibe coding: 'Time to eat some crow'

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.

Porsér’s hacked account was defending AI coding. “This is further evidence that the AI programming hype is being falsely inflated by people who desperately want to change the narrative,” Persson wrote.

On July 14, he was firm: “Reject AI.” Persson wasn’t alone in his hatred of AI.

Many programmers are nervous about the job impacts of AI or frustrated with how AI has changed their roles.

Some are burning out from long days of vibe coding.

Others are excited about developments in AI coding — a position Persson eventually took up.

On July 21, he wrote that he “just might give vibe coding a shot.” “I’ve been having a lot of trouble hiring talented programmers, and I’ll probably feel less bad about firing a chat bot,” Persson wrote.

Days later, Persson wrote that he was already coming up with use cases for Claude. “Can I still make fun of vibe coders if I become one?” he asked.

One user reminded Persson of his post earlier that month, calling for the rejection of AI.

The Minecraft creator responded that it was “repression,” and that thoughts that AI coding might actually be useful had been “bubbling inside” him for a while.

On August 10, Persson shared a chat log. “Maybe it’s time to eat some crow,” he wrote.

One user quoted Persson’s post, writing that it was “depressing” that he would develop a game with AI. “I can promise you I’m trying to hold on to the foundation, for whatever that’s worth,” Persson responded. “I thought I should at least give this potential amazing technology a shot.

Especially since I can’t hire people.” Still, he’s proceeding cautiously. “One of the reasons I don’t want to embrace this AI thing too much is that I’d prefer to stay a developer and not become middle management,” Persson wrote on Tuesday. “Feels related somehow.”