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AI Intern Fired Over Pay Raise Text
16 Jun
Summary
- Intern built entire language model and secured seven clients in three months.
- Manager dismissed work as 'test campaigns' and refused pay negotiation.
- Intern was terminated via email after a WhatsApp pay raise request.
An AI engineer intern has reported being dismissed from a startup internship following a pay negotiation initiated through a WhatsApp message. The intern, employed on a low stipend for a six-month term with a promised review, claimed to have developed the company's entire small language model (SLM) and acquired over seven clients within the initial three months.
Upon reaching the review period, the intern requested a significant stipend increase, detailing their contributions in building, testing, and deploying SLM agents. The manager reportedly reacted defensively, characterizing the intern's achievements as mere 'test campaigns' and unsuitable for production. Shortly after, the intern received an email terminating their internship due to an 'mismatch in expectations'. The intern expressed disappointment, feeling their extensive work was disregarded during a standard business negotiation.
