Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has paused a program that tracked employees' computer activity following a staff backlash and data privacy concerns. The tool, called the Model Capability Initiative (MCI), monitored keystrokes, mouse clicks, and screen content to collect data for training Meta's artificial intelligence models.
Employee Petition and Privacy Concerns
More than 1,600 Meta workers signed a petition against the MCI tool, demanding that the company refrain from harvesting "employee 'computer use' data." The petition stated: "Collecting and repurposing this kind of data raises serious concerns around privacy, consent, and trust in the workplace."
According to a report by Wired, data collected from corporate laptops through MCI was accessible to anyone inside the company. An internal security notice revealed the exposure of data tables containing "full prompts and transcriptions, private conversations, people and performance data."
Company Response and Investigation
Meta confirmed the program has been paused. In a statement, the company said: "We have carefully designed this program with privacy safeguards and while we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we’re pausing it while we investigate."
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously justified the tracking, telling employees that AI models learn from "watching really smart people do things." In an internal meeting, he noted: "The average intelligence of the people who are at this company is significantly higher than the average set of people that you can get to do tasks," adding that the coding skills of Meta engineers would enhance the model's abilities.
Meta's AI Investment and Other Projects
Zuckerberg is heavily investing in AI, with Meta spending up to $145 billion (£110 billion) in capital expenditure this year, much of it directed toward AI infrastructure like data centers.
Separately, the New York Times reported that Zuckerberg has ordered a small team to create a smartphone app called Arena, similar to prediction market sites Polymarket and Kalshi. These platforms allow users to bet on events ranging from Tony award winners to the Iran conflict. According to the Pew Research Centre, about $24 billion in wagers are placed monthly on Kalshi and Polymarket. The project remains in development and may not be released.
Mike Proulx, a research director at Forrester, commented that moving into prediction markets, which have drawn legal scrutiny in the US, is "not a great look" for a company already under legal pressure due to its social media products. Meta has been contacted for further comment.
