Proton denies tracking employees' AI use, says no job losses over AI re-interviews

Proton has responded to concerns over its growing use of AI, denying claims that it tracks employees' AI-generated code. The company also says it will not conduct AI-use re-interviews or cut jobs over them. It has announced that it will share more details about its internal AI tools and security checks.

In Short

• Proton denies tracking employees' AI-generated code
• The company says there will be no AI-related job losses
• Proton plans to open-source more internal AI tools

Proton is trying to clear the air after reports of its aggressive push towards artificial intelligence (AI) triggered concerns among employees and users. The Swiss company, known for its privacy-focused services such as Proton Mail, recently came into the limelight after reports suggested that it was preparing to stop hiring software engineers and make AI a bigger part of its workforce. A report by 404 Media also claimed that Proton had installed software on employees' laptops to track AI-generated code and was planning to re-interview workers about their AI usage, with their jobs potentially at stake. Now, the company has responded to the allegations, denied some of the claims and promised to be more transparent about how it uses AI internally.

In a post on X on October 31, Proton said it had heard people's concerns about its AI strategy and workplace culture. It also acknowledged that it had not communicated its plans properly.

“First, Proton does not install tracking software on employees' laptops to measure how much AI-generated code they produce. This rumor stemmed from a misunderstanding about how MDM software works, and it's not true,” the company said.

Proton also addressed concerns about AI-generated code and security. The company said its growing use of AI would not come at the cost of security, particularly because its products handle sensitive user information.

Proton promises more transparency about AI and security

Proton said it has actually added more layers of security checks over the past year to deal with the growing threat of AI-powered tools scanning its open-source code for vulnerabilities.

“Our use of AI will never be at the expense of security,” the company said.

Proton said it would release and open-source several internal tools, including more advanced versions of its AI assistant Lumo, which have so far only been available inside the company. It also plans to publish details about its code review and security review processes, along with its internal AI policies. This will explain where employees are allowed to use AI, where they cannot use it and why. The idea, according to Proton, is to let people see not just the final open-source code but also understand how it was created.

Proton says no employees will lose jobs over AI re-interviews

The company has also addressed one of the biggest concerns raised by the earlier report. Proton said it is no longer planning to re-interview employees to assess their AI usage and insisted that there would be no job losses linked to such interviews.

“Lastly, we are not re-interviewing our staff about AI usage, and there are no job losses due to AI re-interviews,” the company clarified.

The clarification comes after CEO Andy Yen reportedly told employees that 2026 would be the company's last year hiring engineers. From next year, Proton was expected to focus on recruiting people who could build products using AI instead. The company's CTO Bart Butler had also reportedly said that AI was already generating around 90 per cent of its code.

Interestingly, Proton has not announced a reversal of its broader plan to reshape engineering work around AI. Instead, its latest statement focuses on addressing concerns about employee monitoring, job security and product safety.

The company ended its post with an apology, admitting that it had not lived up to the standards expected of it.

“We're aware that we haven't lived up to the high standard you ought to hold us to, and for that we can only apologize, we are sorry,” Proton said.

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