The move came after 404 Media published an investigation into how Proton CEO Andy Yen was aggressively pushing AI across Proton despite security concerns and the culture of fear he has created.
They way they marketed their VPN early on was the first thing I thing. The VPN seemed great but the marketing felt like virtue signalling, I don’t really remember the specifics so it could have been a me thing. Then the news broke they turned over user data to authorities. I kind of expected it but they pushed the fact that they were in Switzerland like it made them more shielded from that (again kind of a marketing distaste). Then this year there was them accidentally funding a french far right youtuber. A small enough thing to have been a mistake, but also it piles on to the bad feelings.
They way they marketed their VPN early on was the first thing I thing. The VPN seemed great but the marketing felt like virtue signalling, I don’t really remember the specifics so it could have been a me thing. Then the news broke they turned over user data to authorities. I kind of expected it but they pushed the fact that they were in Switzerland like it made them more shielded from that (again kind of a marketing distaste). Then this year there was them accidentally funding a french far right youtuber. A small enough thing to have been a mistake, but also it piles on to the bad feelings.
So it’s not antagonism, but it’s an ick.