Meta to Track Employee Keystrokes and Screen Activity to Train AI Models

Quick Facts

• Meta will record employee keystrokes, mouse movements, and take screen snapshots through its Model Capability Initiative (MCI) program
• The company plans to cut 8,000 employees (10% of workforce) starting May 20, with potential cuts reaching 20% by year-end
• Meta has committed up to $135 billion in AI capital expenditure for 2026 and $600 billion by 2028

Meta will install tracking software on U.S. employees’ computers to capture keystrokes, mouse movements, and screen snapshots for AI model training. The company disclosed the Model Capability Initiative in an internal memo this week.

The tracking tool runs across work applications and websites, capturing data to train AI agents that can perform work tasks autonomously. Meta aims to improve its models in areas where they struggle to replicate human computer interactions, such as navigating dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts.

“If we’re building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them — things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus,” a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees the goal is building agents that “primarily do the work” while human workers “direct, review and help them improve.” CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that “projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.”

The initiative comes as Meta accelerates AI spending amid competition from OpenAI and Anthropic. The company has committed up to $135 billion in capital expenditure for 2026 and pledged $600 billion for AI efforts by 2028. Meta also invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% stake in the startup.

Legal experts raise concerns about employee surveillance expansion. Yale law professor Ifeoma Ajunwa noted that keystroke logging subjects white-collar workers to surveillance “previously experienced only by delivery drivers and gig workers.” Such monitoring is illegal in countries like Italy, though no federal limits exist in the United States.

The tracking program launches as Meta prepares significant workforce cuts. The company will eliminate 8,000 positions starting May 20, representing 10% of its 78,865-person workforce. Additional cuts planned for later 2026 could reach 20% of total staff.

Meta has restructured internally around AI development, creating a general-purpose “AI builder” job title and moving engineers into an Applied AI Engineering division focused on autonomous agents. The company has encouraged staff to use AI tools for coding and other tasks despite short-term productivity impacts.

Read more: Meta will record employees’ keystrokes and use it to train its AI models