After facing intense backlash, startup accelerator Y Combinator discreetly removed a video from its X account showcasing a new startup’s AI-powered worker monitoring software. The startup, Optifye, claims on its website to be developing “AI line optimization for manual assembly” that can enhance efficiency by up to 30%. However, the video reveals a more concerning picture.
The video begins with a statement, “Thirty-seven percent line efficiency? That’s bad,” as a young man examines a dashboard displaying the supposed performance metrics of a specific worker on a manufacturing line.
The man contacts his “supervisor,” who reviews a dashboard filled with red flags and proceeds to reprimand the worker, addressing him only as “Workspace 17” via a video feed. The worker explains that he has been working all day, but the manager responds by citing the worker’s lack of progress, stating, “you haven’t even hit your hourly output once today, and you had 11.4% efficiency.” The calculation method and relevance of this efficiency number to the line worker are unclear.
The worker adds, “It’s just been a rough day,” only to be met with the manager’s dismissive comment, “Rough day? More like a rough month.”
Y Combinator is renowned as the premier boot camp for new startups, providing accepted companies with $500,000 in initial funding.
The video elicits a range of reactions, but what stands out is its seemingly inhumane and cold tone. Moreover, despite claiming to increase assembly line efficiency, the demo video itself shows Optifye’s software having no tangible impact beyond harassing the worker. The managers in the video fail to take any concrete steps to address the “issue” beyond yelling at the worker. It remains unclear how the software can improve efficiency without simply encouraging managers to berate their employees. Optifye’s website emphasizes the idea that only measurable aspects can be improved.
sir, workspace 17 is operating at 11% efficiency and hasn’t hit it’s hourly output even once today pic.twitter.com/PTsT517khK
— Jordi Hays (@jordihays) February 25, 2025
The video’s backlash might be attributed to the underlying trauma from the way software engineers are monitored through tracking software like Jira. Some defenders argue that the founders of Optifye are from India and that work ethic in the country may differ from that in the United States. However, this argument is dubious and overlooks the potential for different accountability tools in the Indian manufacturing sector.
Optifye likely targets the Indian manufacturing base, where more stringent accountability measures might be necessary. Still, poor productivity could also result from a poor managerial class in the country. A 2022 report found that 45% of workers dreaded going to work due to mistreatment by supervisors. Video monitoring is not widely accepted in most of the world and is generally met with disapproval when discovered.
Another argument made in defense of the video is that critics are hypocritical for denouncing “sweatshop” practices while using devices like iPhones, which are made using cheap foreign labor. Although it is challenging to avoid these products due to complex global supply chains and the slow pace of change, one can still condemn these surveillance practices without being a hypocrite.
Regardless of one’s stance, considering cultural nuances, the video was tone-deaf given its publication on the X account of a U.S.-based investment firm. The fact that nobody at the company anticipated the type of feedback the video would receive is alarming.
Gizmodo reached out to Y Combinator for comment.
