Meta Installs Tracking Software on US Employee Computers to Train AI Models

Meta Platforms is installing new tracking software on US-based employees' computers to capture their mouse movements, clicks and keystrokes for use in training Artificial Intelligence (AI) models.

According to a Reuters report quoting an internal memo, the tracking tool will run on selected work apps and websites as part of efforts to build AI agents that can perform tasks autonomously. The software will capture very detailed datasets, including keystrokes, mouse movement and screen snapshots.

"This is where all Meta employees can help our models get better simply by doing their daily work," the memo said. The purpose is to improve the company's AI models in areas where they still struggle, like choosing from dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts.

The memo comes as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been moving aggressively to integrate AI into the social media giant's workflows and reshape its workforce around the technology. Zuckerberg's argument has been that it will make the company operate more efficiently.

The initiative is part of Meta SuperIntelligence Labs (MSL) team efforts. The tracking tool will take occasional snapshots of the content on employees' screens for context.

On the tracking tool, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said that the data collected would not be used for performance assessments or any other purpose besides model training and that safeguards were in place to protect sensitive content.

"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. To help, we're launching an internal tool that will capture these kinds of inputs on certain applications to help us train our models," said Stone.

The data-gathering announcement comes just a day after Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth told employees in a separate memo that the company would step up internal data collection as part of its AI for Work (AI4W) efforts, now re-branded as Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA).

Bosworth said in his memo: "The vision we are building towards is one where our agents primarily do the work and our role is to direct, review and help them improve." The aim, he added, was "a closed loop" in which agents could "automatically see where we felt the need to intervene so they can be better next time."