Proton is internally pushing hard for AI-written code: CEO calls the security side's concerns "loser thinking," CTO says the old job is gone

The well-known encryption brand Proton is internally pushing hard for AI-written code and process overhaul: CEO Andy Yen used "loser thinking" on Slack to suppress security-side requests to slow down, the CTO issued an AI manifesto saying "your old job is gone," and the company is conducting AI-usage re-interviews with employees; staff feel a culture of fear, and officials have not denied the factual descriptions, only acknowledging that communication was too harsh and will be improved. https://t.co/QHvL81CKdG

Public persona vs. internal pace Proton is known for privacy products such as encrypted email; Yen speaks externally about "privacy-first AI" and about pushback against Google-style intrusive AI. Internally it is a different story: a mailbox was set up to collect obstacles to AI so they could be "ruthlessly smashed"; software is installed on computers to count AI-generated code; and it was said that this year is the last year of hiring engineers, with next year switching to hiring people who build things with AI. Internal documents state that due to insufficient velocity, the year-end ARR target may be missed, that year-over-year growth is "far below what the market thinks is good," and that "by every metric that matters, we are an underperforming company."

"Loser thinking" on Slack Someone in the security channel suggested spending at least a few days on penetration testing before new code goes live. Yen (around the end of August) replied that this was bullshit and loser thinking, that "of course you can be fast and secure," and that people should think less about how to slow down and more about how to speed up; he also said to stop "lovingly hand-crafting" code and use AI more. Another person asked how to ensure AI code has no security issues and said "security is currently a low priority"; Yen did not directly address the security details, but instead called out and mocked a colleague in the channel for "again saying that same bs about it being slower," and demanded everyone "prompt better."

Scope of AI use and share of code AI was once banned internally, then relaxed: it can handle financial data, draft customer replies on Reddit/LinkedIn, and write code (except source code related to competitor advantage information and innovation/R&D). In meeting recordings obtained by 404, CTO Bart Butler said that in October about 90% of code was written by AI; multiple employees said they use Claude heavily, and Yen also promotes Claude on Slack. One employee complained: the company opposes Big Tech on one hand while spending heavily on Claude on the other.

The CTO's AI manifesto Last Friday afternoon Butler posted a self-described "AI manifesto" on Slack: "Your old job is gone"; not embracing AI is an "existential threat" to the mission. Three points: engineers' job is to help LLMs write better code faster; most code should be reviewed by AI rather than humans; and the organization must transform as a whole. Some felt a Friday scare was unnecessary; Butler said it was meant to have impact. Employees told 404 that the content exaggerated current LLM capabilities and did not discuss the cost of handing over the codebase; another called it "ethically bankrupt."

Re-interviews and a culture of fear This week an email said employees would undergo a re-interview about their AI use, described as "consequential"; current employees understood this as possibly affecting whether they stay. A colleague at the executive level suggested on Slack changing it to identifying laggards and training them, and safeguarding quality. Yen said it was roughly known who was lagging, and "if we had given up, we wouldn't be going through this process." The other person criticized this as fear-driven and said no one dared interject; Yen publicly said that if someone accused this of being financially driven and did not believe his denial, "maybe this isn't the place for you." Another person used the metaphor of "beating a child to make them eat vegetables faster—faster but unhealthy" to describe pushing for speed. Employees say very few dare to defy Yen, and once someone does, it becomes very conspicuous. There was also communication around the launch of post-quantum encryption: Yen was unhappy that a Reddit announcement exposed that old emails were not covered, saying "Perception is more important than truth."