Meta is dialing back an internal program designed to capture employees’ clicks and keystrokes to train artificial-intelligence systems after weeks of employee pushback. An internal memo from Stephane Kasriel, a vice president in the company’s Superintelligence Labs unit, said workers will be able to pause data collection for up to 30 minutes at a time and request exemptions. The Model Capability Initiative was pitched as a way to gather real-world examples of how people use computers so Meta could build task-oriented AI “agents,” but staff raised concerns about privacy, device performance, and control. The memo also cited optimizations to reduce battery and data use after reports that the software strained laptops and home internet connections. The move comes as Meta pursues aggressive AI investments and cost controls, having laid off about 2,000 employees this year and signaling plans to cut roughly 10% of its workforce, stoking anxiety over surveillance and job security. Meta declined to comment publicly.
