Proton staff grilled on AI as company puts jobs at risk
AI ambitions raise concerns over staff and privacy.
The Proton logo magnified. IB photography via Shutterstock.
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- Proton plans to interview staff about how they use AI in their work.
- A leaked email says the talks may affect roles, responsibilities, and continued employment.
- Proton has already interviewed 40 senior engineering and product leaders.
- Privacy advocates on Reddit criticized the move and questioned Proton’s AI direction.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Proton, the company behind ProtonMail and other privacy-focused products, plans to re-interview employees from November 4th to 11th about how they use artificial intelligence in their jobs.
The leaked email makes it clear that the interviews could have consequences for employees’ future at the company, stating that they “may lead to changes in roles, responsibilities, and continued employment.”
The interviews are intended to assess how workers apply AI in their roles, with the company saying it needs people who can turn the technology's capabilities into “better products, stronger execution, and new ways of working.”
Some employees will be exempt from the interviews, and Proton said that every decision will be communicated separately, shortly after the talks.
The email, obtained by 404 Media, says that the interviewees will be taken from an AI-savvy pool of managers, and that 40 senior leaders from engineering and product development have been interviewed up front.
The company aims to retain and develop staff who approach AI with “curiosity, judgment, and urgency,” yet doesn’t explicitly state anything about redundancies.
Proton CEO Andy Yen has increasingly pushed the company towards AI adoption, including through the launch of Lumo, its privacy-focused AI chatbot.
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Backlash against Proton
The decision was condemned on social media. Privacy advocates questioned the ethics behind the company's foray into assessing employees' AI capabilities.
One Proton customer compared the company's shift to that of an AI cult.
Employee morale is the most important building block to great products,wrote one Redditor, who disapproved of Proton's decision to reinterview employees about AI.
Most notably, one commenter said it was “a huge red flag about their ability/willingness to properly and securely build and maintain the service.”
Another privacy fellow maintained that the staff of Proton are most likely qualified enough as it is and fully used to “ultra-rapidly shifting technologies,” and that what Proton lacks is “an effective continual improvement training program.”
If a company that has long prided itself on privacy ethics lays off a large chunk of its workforce, there could still be a serious uproar.
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