San Francisco’s startup scene experienced another memorable moment on Monday night following the abrupt end of a much-hyped afterparty thrown by AI company Cluely, labeled by founder Roy Lee as “the most legendary party that never happened.”
The event was planned as an unofficial afterparty for Y Combinator’s “AI Startup School,” which had gathered significant attention with high-profile speakers including Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Satya Nadella. Despite not being affiliated with Y Combinator, Cluely’s founder Roy Lee saw an opportunity to capitalize on the heightened excitement around the event.
True to the provocative and humorous branding the company is known for, Lee promoted the party with a video on X (formerly Twitter) prominently featuring the iconic Y Combinator sign. Although the advertisement encouraged his more than 100,000 followers to direct message for invitations, Lee later said that the actual guest list was limited to close friends and associates. However, word quickly spread beyond expectations.
By the evening’s start, the hype had drawn crowds totaling around 2,000 attendees. Massive lines wrapped around city blocks, spilling onto streets and causing traffic disruptions. Police quickly intervened, shutting down the event before it could even properly begin. Lee himself appeared undeterred by the chaotic closure, reportedly joking outside the venue that “Cluely’s aura is just too strong!”
“It would have been the most legendary party in tech history,” Lee later reflected. “Its legend might grow even more precisely because it never happened.”
Cluely first gained notoriety when Roy Lee garnered viral online attention after publicizing his suspension from Columbia University. Lee and his co-founder had initially developed software enabling users to covertly cheat during software engineering job interviews. Leveraging the controversy, the pair launched Cluely, marketing an in-browser window undetectable to interviewers and education proctors. The startup quickly secured a seed funding round of $5.3 million last April, a testament to its striking, albeit contentious, approach to artificial intelligence solutions.
In the wake of its prematurely deflated party, Cluely again became a hot topic of humor, online memes, and speculation. Lee conceded the reality of the situation was probably far less intriguing than the wild social-media-driven rumors circulating online: “We did some cleanup, but the drinks are still there, ready and waiting for next time,” he assured.
