{"version":1,"type":"story","url":"https://digestai.news/story/factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi","json":"https://digestai.news/story/factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi.json","markdown":"https://digestai.news/story/factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi.md","slug":"factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi","headline":"Factory CEO accuses Cognition’s new CRO of sharing confidential info with rival","summary":"Factory AI’s CEO, Matan Grinberg, accused Cognition’s newly hired chief revenue officer, Chris Degnan, of disclosing confidential Factory details to Cognition executives while advising Factory as a board observer. Grinberg posted on X that Degnan held recurring conversations with Cognition leaders about Factory’s internal matters, prompting his termination. Degnan denied the allegations, stating he resigned voluntarily and never shared Factory’s information with Cognition.\n\nThe dispute escalates tensions in the AI coding agent market, where Factory and Cognition compete to sell autonomous software engineering tools to enterprises. Cognition’s flagship product, Devin, automates coding tasks, while Factory’s platform enables AI agent deployment across software development. Both companies recently raised massive funding: Factory secured $200 million at a $5 billion valuation, and Cognition raised over $2 billion at a $48 billion valuation. Vinod Khosla, whose firm backed both, publicly criticized Factory’s strategy, while Khosla Ventures’ Keith Rabois condemned the alleged conflict of interest.","keyPoints":["Factory CEO Matan Grinberg terminated Chris Degnan for allegedly sharing confidential Factory info with Cognition executives","Degnan denies wrongdoing, claims he resigned voluntarily and never disclosed Factory’s secrets to Cognition","Both Factory and Cognition recently raised large funding rounds: $200M at $5B and over $2B at $48B respectively"],"whyItMatters":"The feud highlights ethical concerns in AI startups as competition intensifies, raising questions about conflicts of interest and data security in high-stakes board-advisor roles.","category":{"slug":"business","name":"Business & Funding","url":"https://digestai.news/category/business"},"entities":{"companies":["Factory AI","Cognition","Snowflake","Google","Apple","LinkedIn"],"models":[],"people":["Matan Grinberg","Chris Degnan","Scott Wu","Vinod Khosla","Keith Rabois","Eric Schmidt"]},"firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T22:05:00Z","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T22:05:00Z","sourceCount":1,"hasPrimarySource":false,"sources":[{"outlet":"businessinsider.com","title":"Factory CEO Matan Grinberg alleges Cognition's new CRO Chris Degnan had been confiding with Cognition executives while advising Factory as a board observer","url":"https://businessinsider.com/ai-coding-rivals-factory-and-cognition-feud-over-top-hire-2026-9","publishedAt":"2026-09-30T22:05:00Z","type":"press","primary":false,"lead":true}],"sourceNotes":null,"discussions":[],"thread":null,"cite":{"text":"Digest AI, \"Factory CEO accuses Cognition’s new CRO of sharing confidential info with rival\", 30 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi","publisher":"Digest AI","title":"Factory CEO accuses Cognition’s new CRO of sharing confidential info with rival","datePublished":"2026-09-30T22:05:00Z","url":"https://digestai.news/story/factory-ceo-accuses-cognitions-new-cro-of-sharing-confidential-info-wi"},"generatedBy":"Written by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources; the sources are the record.","license":"Headlines, digests and key points are written by Digest AI and may be quoted with a link to the story page. Linked articles belong to their publishers. Terms: https://digestai.news/terms#reuse"}