'Moonlighting' engineer Soham Parekh gets new job at AI start-up
What's the story
Soham Parekh, a software engineer embroiled in a moonlighting controversy, has landed a new job. The techie was recently accused of secretly working for multiple start-ups at the same time. He has now been hired by San Francisco-based Darwin Studios as a founding engineer to develop Wayve, an AI-backed video remixing platform.
Support from leadership
'Soham is an incredibly talented engineer,' says CEO
Sanjit Juneja, the CEO and founder of Darwin Studios, has defended his decision to hire Parekh. He called him a "10x engineer" and said, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market." Juneja also hinted that there is "something even greater to prove than just his love for software."
New beginnings
Parekh says he won't be moonlighting anymore
Parekh has admitted to his past mistakes and said he won't be moonlighting anymore. To note, Conor Brennan-Burke, founder of AI company HyperSpell, has also offered him an engineering role at his firm. Burke said he believes in second chances and that Parekh is "going to work insanely hard to prove everyone wrong."
Consequences
How the scandal unfolded
The moonlighting scandal first came to light when Playground AI founder Suhail Doshi called out Parekh on X. He warned that Parekh was working for multiple start-ups at once and "preying on YC companies and more." The post led to Parekh being fired from several roles, with many recruiters now considering him a risky hire.