Which companies allow vs ban AI in interviews (2026)
By The Assistly team ·
The single most important fact about AI in interviews: whether it's allowed is the employer's call, and they don't agree with each other. Some companies now hand you an AI for the coding round. Others will rescind an offer if they catch you using one. Here's where things stand in 2026, and how to think about it.
Companies that allow (or embrace) AI
The ground has shifted fast. Several major employers have decided that since engineers use AI on the job, interviews should reflect that:
- Meta introduced AI-enabled interview rounds — reporting suggests an AI-assisted coding round where candidates can use a model during the problem.
- Shopify has let candidates bring their own IDE and AI pair-programming tools into technical interviews.
- Coinbase has opened rounds to AI tools, treating fluency with them as a signal rather than a violation.
The logic is consistent: if the day job is "engineer + AI," the interview should test "engineer + AI," not memorized syntax.
Companies that ban AI
Plenty of employers go the other way, and treat unauthorized AI as an integrity violation:
- Amazon bans unauthorized AI tools in interviews; candidates are typically asked to acknowledge a no-AI rule, and using one risks disqualification.
- Goldman Sachs has banned AI in its recorded (HireVue) interviews.
In these processes, using AI isn't an ethics gray area — it's a stated rule, and breaking a stated rule is the risk.
The gray area in between
Most companies haven't published a clear policy at all, which leaves a large gray zone. The community consensus that's emerged:
- Behavioral and conversational rounds are widely treated as a gray area — many people use AI to organize their thoughts, the way they'd use notes.
- Named "no-AI" or proctored assessments are not a gray area. If the instructions say no AI, or the platform is a locked-down proctored test, using AI is a clear violation regardless of your personal view.
- The consequences compound. The fear repeated across communities isn't just failing the round — it's being flagged on a proctoring platform and effectively blacklisted for future roles.
How to stay on the right side of the line
- Read the rules for each interview. If there's an AI policy or a no-AI acknowledgment, follow it. If a platform is proctored, assume AI use is prohibited.
- Ask if you're unsure. "Am I allowed to use AI tools for this round?" is a reasonable question, and the answer protects you.
- Use AI to prepare, always. Practice, mock interviews, and answer structure are uncontroversial everywhere. There's no policy against being well-prepared.
- In allowed or open settings, use it well. Where AI is permitted, a real-time copilot that surfaces structure and talking points — in your own voice — is exactly the kind of "engineer + AI" fluency some companies now want to see.
Where Assistly fits
Assistly is a real-time copilot for live conversations — interviews, meetings, and sales calls. We build it to help you be prepared and present, and we're explicit that it should be used within the rules of whatever interview, call, or meeting you're in. In an AI-friendly interview, that means using it the way the company intends. Everywhere else, the rules above are your guide.
If you want to understand what's technically visible to an interviewer or a proctoring tool, read can interviewers tell if you're using AI?