Proton CEO Andy Yen cancelled a company-wide initiative on Friday that would have forced staff to explain their AI usage under threat of dismissal. The decision followed an investigation by 404 Media which detailed how Yen pushed artificial intelligence adoption while dismissing security protocols.
The investigation
The report relied on interviews with eight current and one former employee, internal Slack logs, meeting recordings, and a manifesto written by CTO Bart Butler. It found that Proton is prioritising revenue growth over its reputation for privacy. The company is moving aggressively into AI despite employee warnings about risks.
One security engineer told the paper that the team needed to test new code before deployment. Yen replied in a Slack channel at the end of August that such caution was “bullshit and loser thinking.” He told staff to stop focusing on speed and security, and instead focus on speed. He added that they should stop “lovingly handcrafting all our code and use AI more.”
The investigation revealed a culture of fear. Employees felt unable to voice concerns about security or the use of AI in security products because Yen mocked or insulted them in public meetings.
The all-hands meeting
During a two-hour meeting on Friday, Yen acknowledged a communication failure. He stated he would reflect on the situation and improve over time. He added that he would still push for AI adoption going forward.
Yen told the room that leadership and the board had reviewed the situation. The Proton Foundation, which owns the company, includes Yen, Sir Tim Berners Lee, Prof Carissa Veliz, Dingchao Lu, and Antonio Gambardella on its board of trustees.
“We’ve decided to actually cancel the re-interviews,” Yen said. He explained that the initiative had already served its purpose by getting employees talking about AI.
Butler later told the room that Yen needed to communicate better. He said using AI effectively did not mean abandoning security, architecture, or sound software engineering principles. Butler later told 404 Media that the company had made mistakes and knew it.
What it means for staff
Yen mentioned organisational changes and said he would redistribute talent across teams. He promised that the reorganisation next month would not result in job losses due to AI.
Reactions among staff were mixed. One employee said some were happy with the progress, but others believed nothing would change because there were no consequences for Yen. That employee noted Yen holds the majority of Proton shares, which limits accountability.
Another staff member said the company would continue pushing AI and that metrics from the cancelled re-interviews would move into performance reviews. They felt the direction had not changed.
One employee said they were mostly happy with how the situation was handled. Another said the cancellation looked like damage control rather than a genuine shift in policy.
After the investigation published on Thursday, Yen posted a response on Reddit. Users downvoted the post more than 1,200 times. Many Proton users on social media said they were cancelling their paid plans.
Proton did not respond to a request for comment.
