Block Just Cut 40% of Its Engineers. BuilderBot Writes the Code Now.

There's a moment in the a16z interview where Owen Jennings, a Block executive, says something that makes you pause: "We are not writing code by hand anymore. That's over." Not "we're using AI to assist our engineers." Not "we've increased productivity." The correlation between headcount and output at Block - the $50B fintech company formerly known as Square - broke in the first week of December 2025. And the company acted on it. Block cut over 40% of its engineering staff. Squads that once had 14 people now run with 3 or 4.