Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after an internal leak
Short summary
Meta paused its Model Capability Initiative after an internal leak exposed employees’ private conversations, performance metrics, and keystroke logs across the company. The breach was rated SEV 2 on Meta’s 0–5 severity scale, prompting an investigation and a temporary suspension of the program.
- Meta paused its Model Capability Initiative (which recorded employee keystrokes/mouse movements for AI training) after a leak exposed private conversations, performance reviews, and transcription logs to all employees, rated SEV 2 on Meta's severity scale.
- Meta says there's no evidence the exposed data was abused, but is investigating how access controls failed.
- Employees are angry, saying Meta broke its promised privacy safeguards for a program that was already mandatory and controversial when launched in April.
- This follows other recent Meta security failures: an AI chatbot flaw that let attackers hijack Instagram accounts in May, and a rogue AI agent incident in March.
Full summary
Meta has halted its Model Capability Initiative after a leak let every employee see private conversations, performance reviews and transcription logs. Screenshots obtained by Business Insider show the breach was rated a SEV 2 on Meta’s 0-to-5 scale (0 being worst). A company spokesperson says there’s no sign anyone abused the data but they’re pausing the program while investigating how access controls failed.
The MCI launched in April to feed AI models with staff keystrokes and mouse movements. It was mandatory for most employees and sparked protests when people learned their every click would be recorded. Inside Meta, staffers are furious. “I am incensed,” one wrote in an internal group chat. They pointed out that Meta promised privacy safeguards from day one, yet left sensitive data wide open.
This isn’t Meta’s only slip-up lately. In May, attackers exploited a flaw in its AI chatbot to hijack multiple Instagram accounts. Back in March, a rogue AI agent triggered another serious security incident. Now Meta has to shore up controls on its internal AI tools before it can safely restart the program.