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Musks xAI pressed employees to install surveillance software on personal laptops

https://www.businessinsider.com/xai-pressed-workers-install-surveillance-software-personal-laptops-2025-7
48•c420•7h ago

Comments

pinewurst•6h ago
https://archive.ph/qUW2A
gammalost•6h ago
Why would they not use a company laptop in the first place?

"They ran out" is no excuse

v5v3•5h ago
Elon Musk declared that none of his employees could work remotely. So this is an admission that he has failed to achieve this goal.
jerrygenser•4h ago
I think this is like mass data labelers, including in other countries or other low cost areas.
alephnerd•4h ago
> The company supplies some workers with company-issued Chromebooks, but many workers use their personal devices for the role

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.

-----------

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.

another_twist•4h ago
23points and one the front page ? Who cares about an irrelevant social media site and its Ketamine addict CEO ?
beardedmoose•1h ago
I know right, flooding in Texas and we are still talking about this creep?
nyarlathotep_•4h ago
> The company supplies some workers with company-issued Chromebooks, but many workers use their personal devices for the role

How is this even a thing? Are there seriously employees at a "tech company" bringing their own hardware? This is madness

browningstreet•3h ago
People willing to work for Musk are probably willing to put up with more adverse conditions than is usual or standard at other orgs.
cbsks•1h ago
I’m surprised that a “tech company” provides a Chromebook instead of a laptop.
ankurdhama•24m ago
ChromeOS is more than enough for lots of roles. Even for devs (backend, web and android etc) it should be good enough if you have good enough CPU, RAM and storage.
angst•1h ago
> The company has said it will only use the system to monitor URL and application visits during designated work hours, according to the document. According to its website, Hubstaff can also track mouse movement and keystrokes.

> "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)

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