Bob Pickard

Hey everyone, we have heard your concerns about Proton’s AI strategy and culture and after internal discussions, we want to share a few things with you. First, Proton does not install tracking software on employees' laptops to measure how much AI-generated code they produce. This rumor stemmed from a misunderstanding about how MDM software works, and it's not true. Second, our use of AI will never be at the expense of security. In the past year, contrary to what has been alleged, additional layers of security review have been added to meet the threat posed by hostile AIs scanning Proton's open-source code for vulnerabilities. Our code is open source, and its security remains open for all to verify. We want to prove this to you, so in the interest of transparency, we will lift the hood on how we use AI internally at Proton. This includes publicly releasing and open sourcing several of the internal tools that we use, including more advanced versions of Lumo with greater capabilities, which have never been made available outside of the company. We will also publish how code reviews and security reviews at Proton are done, and detail our AI policies, including where AI is permitted, and where it is not, and our rationale. Instead of just being able to see the final open-source code that we produce to verify security, you will also be able to assess how that code was produced. Lastly, we are not re-interviewing our staff about AI usage, and there are no job losses due to AI re-interviews. You can hold us to these commitments. We're aware that we haven't lived up to the high standard you ought to hold us to, and for that we can only apologize, we are sorry.

📰Propaganda is not always something audiences simply watch, read or listen to. Increasingly, it is something they are invited to experience. In a new China Dialogues piece, Frederik Schmitz examines the rise of “propaformance” in China: a form of participatory propaganda that turns official historical narratives into embodied and emotional experiences. From frozen-potato challenges inspired by The Battle at Lake Changjin to immersive Long March performances and virtual reality experiences, the article explores how the boundaries between propaganda, entertainment and historical memory are becoming increasingly blurred. It also raises a wider question: what happens when audiences become participants in producing and reproducing official narratives, rather than merely consuming them? ⬇️Read the full piece: blogs.lse.ac.uk/cff/2026/10/… #China #Propaganda #HistoricalMemory #PoliticalCommunication

Yen on communicating about the encryption implementation of Proton Mail: “Perception is more important than truth, the truth doesn’t matter if you don’t win on perception.” 404media.co/manifestos-fear-…

‼️ Proton CEO Andy Yen called a staffer's plea to pentest new code before release "bullshit and loser thinking". Yen wrote that workers should prompt “better.” Proton's CTO told staff AI wrote 90% of its code in October, much of it with Anthropic's Claude.

McCarthy Tétrault, one of Canada’s top corporate law firms, is dealing with a major data breach that has compromised thousands of files, including client information. The breach occurred over the last week, according to two sources familiar with the matter, and one source directly involved said 31,000 files were stolen. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. McCarthy Tétrault confirmed the breach to The Globe and Mail, but declined to comment on the number of affected files. The firm, which advises on some of the highest profile deals in Canada, has been reaching out to Bay Street clients this week and informing them of the breach. Clients are currently in the process of learning what information has been compromised. theglobeandmail.com/business…