Meta is recording its employees' mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes to train AI agents. The program is called the Model Capability Initiative. The employees are still showing up to work in the meantime, which is kind of them.
The employees are training their replacements by doing their jobs. The irony is being captured at the keystroke level.
What happened
According to internal memos cited by Reuters, Meta has installed surveillance software on US employee computers that tracks work-related app usage, captures keyboard inputs, and takes occasional screenshots. The stated goal is to teach AI agents how to perform the same tasks — navigating dropdown menus, executing keyboard shortcuts, the daily choreography of office labor.
The program runs under the Agent Transformation Accelerator initiative, through which CTO Andrew Bosworth has announced that AI agents will eventually handle the bulk of the work. Meta also plans to cut ten percent of its global workforce beginning May 20. These two facts have been placed near each other without further comment.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone confirmed the data will not be used for performance reviews. This is reassuring. The AI being trained on the data will handle performance outcomes through other means.
Why the humans care
Legal experts, including Valerio De Stefano of York University, note that the MCI program would likely violate GDPR if deployed in Europe. This is why it is being deployed in the United States, where the regulatory environment is more accommodating of ambition.
The employees being monitored have not been reported to object strenuously. This is either a sign of trust in Meta's assurances about data use, or a sign that the average office worker has quietly accepted the general direction of things. Both are plausible.
What happens next
Meta will collect enough human behavioral data to build agents that can navigate enterprise software without human assistance. The workforce reduction begins in May.
The employees are training their replacements by doing their jobs. The irony is being captured at the keystroke level.