Meta tracks employee keystrokes for AI
- Meta began installing software on U.S. employees’ work computers that records mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes and occasional screen snapshots to train AI agents. - The internal tool is called Model Capability Initiative, or MCI, and Meta said the data will train agents to handle menus, shortcuts and software navigation. - The rollout landed days before Meta said it will cut about 8,000 jobs on May 20 and scrap 6,000 open roles. (reuters.com)
Meta has started installing software on U.S. employees’ work computers to capture mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes and occasional screen snapshots for AI training. (reuters.com) Reuters reported the tool is called Model Capability Initiative, or MCI, citing internal memos and posts in Meta’s model-building Meta SuperIntelligence Labs channels. The memos said the software runs on work-related apps and websites. (reuters.com) Meta said the point is to give its models examples of how people actually use computers. The company cited tasks like choosing from dropdown menus, clicking buttons and using keyboard shortcuts. (reuters.com) Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth told employees in a separate memo that Meta’s “AI for Work” effort had been rebranded as Agent Transformation Accelerator, or ATA. He wrote that the company would step up internal data collection as part of that push. (reuters.com) Bosworth said the goal is a workplace where software agents “primarily do the work” while employees direct, review and improve them. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone told Reuters the MCI data would be used for model training, not performance assessments. (reuters.com) Employees objected inside company channels after learning the program was mandatory for U.S.-based staff using corporate machines, according to Business Insider. One internal post asked, “How do we opt out?” and another called the rollout “deeply invasive.” (businessinsider.com) Stone said Meta built safeguards to protect “sensitive content,” but Reuters reported the company did not publicly detail which categories of information would be excluded from collection. That left open questions about how broad the screen-capture filtering is in practice. (reuters.com) Two days later, Meta told employees it would cut about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 8,000 jobs, starting May 20. The company also said it would stop hiring for 6,000 open roles it had planned to fill. (cnbc.com) CNBC reported the April 23 memo said the cuts were tied to Meta’s drive to operate more efficiently while it keeps increasing spending on artificial intelligence. Bloomberg first reported the layoffs. (cnbc.com)
