"They ran out" is no excuse
This is the crux of the issue - xAI allows employees to use personal laptops for corporate work.
This is a MASSIVE breach of internal security operations. Either mandate no personal laptop use or require VDI to access corporate resources.
> In the lead up to the roll-out, tutors were initially told that the company had run out of Chromebooks, and it was unclear when they would be restocked, people familiar with the guidance told BI
This is just pure sloppiness from their IT org, who are likely dealing with some amount of micromanagement from up the leadership chain.
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It really isn't that expensive to procure corporate laptops from an MSP like WWT, especially for a firm like xAI that is trying to raise a round at a $200B valuation. There's a reason Musk was managed out of PayPal fairly early. Even Peter Thiel couldn't stand him.
How is this even a thing? Are there seriously employees at a "tech company" bringing their own hardware? This is madness
If you'd force me (a dev used to work on a blazingly fast Linux machine) to use this I'd just be inclined to look for a job elsewhere. Not sure if that was in your interest as a corp.
Here's my anecdote: had to prove I didn't use what was their hardware to create something I released for free. I lost more in frustration alone than that saved. Nevermind the postage.
Time and place matters, as always.
They can provide what they want to monitor. Now: I'll buy a discount device, I won't offer my own.
Quadruple for phones. Say the business wants to call outside of work. It can afford differential, payment for that device, and the plan to connect it. I'll still choose when it's on, human after all.
> "This new tool serves to streamline work processes, provide clearer insights into daily tutoring activities, and ensure resources align with Human Data priorities," the company's human resources team said in a mass email to employees.
> The software, which requires workers to clock in and out, would not track activity on the laptop outside of work hours, the document said.
very well intended (smh)
This should be the least of their problems these days, given waves hands at Grok. The overinflated paychecks make up for the lack of ethics.
pinewurst•6mo ago