Unless Andy Yen steps aside, I am cancelling my proton subscription and will move to another company. I started supporting proton because I believe in the values it promotes. Abusing employees is not part of those values.

Proton needs to do some soul searching about the company it wants to be. Most of us came to proton because we did not like the way big tech companies act. We have no problem leaving if proton goes down the same path.

Absolutely agree. I pay annually for Proton under the impression that this is a security-first company, the idea that any code here would be slopped out by predictive AI models with no oversight has made me reconsider renewing that subscription.

i unfortunately paid upfront for the year and moved my domain emails to proton a couple months ago.

I will not be renewing.

I started paying for Proton because I care about security and privacy more than I cared about new features. Until now I thought that Proton understood that they were selling trust in their commitment to security. Andy Yen's comments, specifically calling security testing "loser thinking" above and beyond the rest of it, makes it pretty clear to me that I was wrong about that. Unless something changes, I'm going to be buying from someone else in short order.

If this continues I will have to migrate once again to a service that actually values their employees and wants to make a secure product.

I will be canceling my subscription until a reasonable person with values on quality and security is in charge. The whole point of this is to be secure and well made, I'll gladly go back to a free email if I have to.

I am preparing to migrate away from big tech and I had settled on signing up for Proton Unlimited. The migration is happening in a couple of weeks during a week long vacation from work. I work as a software engineer in a workers union. The latest news about the CEO and the despicable treatment of Proton employees is utterly appalling. Threatening employees with re-interviews, what in the world are you thinking? Is this for real? Speed over quality? No test of AI-generated features? That is what you choose? Why are you even embracing AI in the first place? You are good being associated with theft of intellectual property, destruction of the environment, robbing the youth of normal development of critical cognitive abilities and the death of the actual internet?

I can not in good conscience support any of this. If this is not rectified, I'll go somewhere else. I want an e-mail and storage - not polished **** produced by AI while competent engineers are punished for applying their skills. It actually makes me sick.

I was actively considering a Proton Unlimited plan until today, and lets just say I'm glad as heck I haven't purchased one yet.

I wanted to migrate off of gmail due to having AI junk shoved down my throat. I was actively interested in ProtonVPN because I've heard some suspicious stuff about ExpressVPN. Using AI to vibe code a privacy focused product is like, the worst idea ever. And unless serious changes are made at this company, I'm moving to greener pastures.

No company should tolerate behavior like this from their C-Suite. The amount of reputational harm being done here is staggering.

Terrible CEO!

I left Google because they betrayed their original slogan, “Don’t be evil.” It seems Proton is going down the same path... What a shame. I hope Proton quickly boots out its CEO and replaces them with someone whose management methods are more respectful of both its employees and its customers.

Yen and Butler, both. I have 11 months left on contract and I truly hope (and expect!) that this will be resolved in that time. I've been with Proton from the very beginning and this is the second and final time that Andy Yen will make me question that decision.

Andy Yen has offered nothing to Proton as a company except bad publicity. I will cancel my subscription and search for a new alternative, which there are plenty of.

Changing will take the users a few days. Losing your company that you've built up for years just because of one person must hurt.

We need a respectful CEO and also someone who understands and values product safety. We don’t need proton to become Gmail with encryption.

The recent revelations about Proton leadership's mismanagement and forced AI adoption are damning. If management is not replaced or fixed, I plan to end end my Proton subscription and will no longer recommend its products.

From 404 Media's article: "Ninety percent of code at Proton in October was written by AI, the company’s CTO Bart Butler said in a meeting, according to audio 404 Media obtained." I pay Proton for privacy-focused products built by smart engineers. If I wanted software created by genAI and bolted together at the seams, I would go to literally any big tech company. I will be saddened, but not surprised by Proton's fall from grace and eventual bankruptcy if it continues in this direction.

It seems very clear that a vocal number of subscribers are against this blind adoption of AI and the horrendous treatment of staff. I for one, simply cannot support a company whose leadership treats employees like cattle to be prodded and punished until they fall in line.

If Proton wishes to survive, leadership must change course or be replaced. That is a simple fact at this point.

Oh yeah also how about some respect for the employees that actually make the fantastic products? Why take a verbal dump on someone on your own team? The only reason I pay is for the belief that the code im running is lovingly hand crafted. This is a bespoke product at bespoke prices. If that is not the direction of this company anymore I shall not give them another dollar.

Already posted in the other one but since this one has more traction I’ll add my thoughts here as well:

My subscription is cancelled.

I will check at the end of my current term if this clown is gone. If not, I’ll find someone else to host my email.

We had a good thing going. Proton was great and can be great once again. But not if Andy Yen is associated at all with the leadership of this company. What a clown.

I want Proton to be different from the companies that made me leave the first time.

A healthy workplace listens to its people. Especially when they raise concerns about security. Especially when those concerns come from engineers who know what they're talking about.

Yes, use AI. Integrate it with the right controls, at the right pace. Let it help, not drive. There's no shame in moving slower if what comes out is safer, more private, more trustworthy. That's the point of choosing privacy-first in the first place.

I don't need Proton to play the same game as Big Tech. Speed for speed's sake isn't the metric that brought me here. Quality is. Privacy is. Trust is.

When a company starts treating caution as weakness, it forgets why people chose it over the alternatives. I'm not looking for disruption at all costs. I'm looking for integrity in products, in culture, in how you treat the people who build what we rely on.

If that means arriving later, fine. Better late and honest than early and hoping it holds.

I'll give it a month, but if the leadership doesn't change I'm leaving and cancelling my Unlimited Subscription. This is unacceptable behavior towards anyone and from anyone. Let alone a CEO towards their employees.

As a Visionary user, this is a top priority. The Proton Foundation and FONGIT need to step up.