Meta is installing tracking software on U.S. employees’ work computers that will capture mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes, along with some screenshots to feed the data into its AI training pipeline, according to Reuters.
The tool, disclosed in a memo to staff this week in a channel belonging to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team, which Reuters saw, will run on a designated list of work apps and websites.
Per Reuters, the memo framed the effort as a way for rank-and-file employees to improve company models in areas where they struggle to emulate basic computer-use behaviors, such as navigating dropdown menus and using keyboard shortcuts. The memo told Meta staffers that they can do their part to help by just doing their daily work.
The broader goal seems to be to build AI agents capable of performing white-collar tasks on their own, the exact software Meta is racing to ship out amid competition from OpenAI and Anthropic. Those agents have a lot of data, but little footage of how to actually use it.
“If we’re building agents to help people complete everyday tasks using computers, our models need real examples of how people actually use them,” a Meta spokesperson wrote in an email to Fortune, adding that the models were using “things like mouse movements, clicking buttons, and navigating dropdown menus.”
The company added that safeguards are in place to protect sensitive content and that the data will not be used for any other purpose.
Industry hunts for data
The move comes as the industry hunts for training data to use in the workplace itself.
In January, OpenAI was reported to be asking third-party contractors, via training data firm Handshake AI, to upload samples of real work products from previous jobs—actual PowerPoints, spreadsheets, and the like—with instructions to scrub confidential material before submission.
Meta acquired a 49% stake in data-labeling firm Scale AI last year for more than $14 billion, and Scale’s former CEO, Alexandr Wang, now leads Meta Superintelligence Labs. Meta has rapidly accelerated its AI spending, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg committing up to $135 billion in capital expenditure for 2026.
At the same time, the company is preparing to cut as much as 20% of its workforce, with the first layoffs reportedly set to begin in May.