SAN FRANCISCO—In a first-person account that has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, a developer who claims they were "coding 24/7, finishing all the projects that had been shelved for years" is now facing an uncertain future.

David Miller, 32, had been riding high on what he calls "the golden age of free AI." With unlimited access to Grok, he managed to hold down four full-time remote positions simultaneously, earning over $800,000 annually while working approximately 6 hours per week.

"I'd wake up, check my four Slack workspaces, copy-paste the requirements into Grok, and boom—pull requests ready by lunch," Miller explained from his home office, which is actually just his bedroom with a standing desk. "I was living the dream. I bought a Tesla. I was planning to buy a house. I told my parents I was a genius."

"I genuinely forgot how to write a for loop. I had to Google it. I'm a senior engineer."

The announcement of Grok's paywall hit Miller particularly hard. "I did the math—$20 per month times four accounts is $80. That's like... almost $1,000 per year. How am I supposed to afford that?" he said, apparently unaware of his $800,000 annual income.

Miller's situation is not unique. Industry analysts estimate that up to 40% of "senior developers" hired in the past two years have never actually written production code without AI assistance. "We're looking at a potential mass extinction event," said tech recruiter Sarah Chen. "These people can't even center a div without asking an AI first."

When asked about his backup plan, Miller grew quiet. "I guess I could... learn to code? Like, actually learn?" He paused, staring at his mechanical keyboard. "No, that's crazy talk. I'll just wait for the next free AI to come along. There's always another one, right? Right?"

At press time, Miller was seen updating his LinkedIn profile to remove "AI Expert" and replace it with "Traditional Coding Enthusiast."