A recent demonstration by Optifye.ai, a current member of Y Combinator’s cohort, sparked a significant backlash on social media, ultimately leading to YC removing the post from its social media platforms.

According to Optifye’s YC profile, the company is developing software that utilizes AI-powered security cameras to monitor factory workers’ productivity in real-time, enabling factory owners to track who is working and who is not.

On Monday, YC shared an Optifye demo video on X and LinkedIn, which was captured by TechCrunch. The video depicted Optifye co-founder Kushal Mohta portraying a factory boss, discussing the performance of a worker known as “Number 17” with his co-founder Vivaan Baid, who was acting as the supervisor.

In the video, Baid confronts “Number 17” about his underperformance, stating that he has not met his hourly output and has an efficiency rate of 11.4%. The supervisor then reviews the worker’s performance over 15 days and criticizes his consistent underperformance.

The demo video sparked widespread criticism on X, with some users likening it to “sweatshops-as-a-service” and “computer vision sweatshop software.” It also garnered criticism on Hacker News, Y Combinator’s link-sharing platform.

However, not everyone was critical of the demo. Eoghan McCabe, CEO of Intercom, argued that those who complained about the video should stop purchasing products made in China and India, highlighting the prevalence of similar technologies in these countries.

Indeed, it is not difficult to find examples of tech companies in China promoting “sleep detection” cameras that utilize computer vision to identify sleeping workers.

Ultimately, YC deleted the demo video from its social media platforms, but not before it was saved by several accounts.