New turn in Proton AI dispute as CEO cancels re-interviews

The dispute is about the push of Proton to use AI in all its work. 404 Media reported that the push continued, although employees had security concerns.

On Friday, Proton CEO Andy Yen cancelled almost all company re-interviews in which employees had to tell how they use AI. Employees were afraid of dismissal. This came a day after 404 Media published an investigation, based on nine employees, and users called for Yen to resign. Yen said that AI will not remove work.

What changed

Yen said that the re-interviews did their work. He accepted an error in what Yen said, but said that he continues the push. One employee says that the items from the re-interviews will go into performance inspections.

The proof

Users downvoted the reply of Yen on Reddit more than 1,200 times. Many users said that they cancel paid plans. In August, Yen told a security group to stop manual work on code. An employee had wanted some days of code tests before release.

What is not known

Proton did not comment. Employees disagree. One says that it looks like damage control, and one is mostly happy. Yen has most of the shares.

Insight: A trust brand goes faster while others slow down

Yen told employees to go faster, not slower. In October 2026, Anthropic stopped live internet access for all internal AI tests until it can monitor its agents. Schwab blocks external agents from client money. Others add brakes where trust is what users pay for, and Proton seems to risk it. Monitor how many users cancel paid plans.