Optifye.ai, a AI startup backed by Y Combinator, has recently faced significant backlash due to a controversial video demo. The startup, co-founded by Indian-origin entrepreneurs Vivaan Baid and Kushal Mohta, developed an AI-powered system that uses computer vision to monitor factory workers’ efficiency in real-time.
In the demo, the founders role-played as factory supervisors, identifying underperforming workers – referred to by numbers rather than names – and blaming them for not meeting productivity targets. Meanwhile, Y Combinator also posted this Optifye demo video on X and LinkedIn on Monday, which was seen and shared (with screenshots) by several users on the internet.
They tried to delete it but this anon saved it… pic.twitter.com/mGiHFbEInF
— Based Baron (@BasedBaronT) February 25, 2025
However many people found the concept dehumanizing and exploitative, leading to heavy backlash online. And due to the widespread criticism, Y Combinator removed the video from its social media channels. In fact, a social media user questioned, “Did YC promote a demo for slavery?”
Notably, the controversy surrounding Optifye.ai centers on ethical concerns about using AI for intensive worker surveillance, highlighting the delicate balance between technological advancement and workers’ rights.
One user labelled it ‘computer vision sweatshop software,’ suggesting it automates worker surveillance in an oppressive way. The criticism also extended to Hacker News, Y Combinator’s own discussion platform, where users debated the ethics of AI-powered worker monitoring.
“Leave it to a bunch of children who have never worked a real job a single day in their lives and still haven’t graduated college to come up with some obnoxious, slave-driving dystopian thing like this,” Christopher Amidon (Founder, Subsea Robotics) said in his X post.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that Optifye.ai’s founders were inspired to create the software based on their personal experiences with family-run manufacturing businesses. They aimed to address challenges related to labour productivity by providing factory managers with precise, real-time data on worker performance.
Founded in 2024, Optifye.ai is a part of Y Combinator‘s current cohort. The startup uses cameras to monitor assembly lines and applies computer vision (AI that analyzes visual data) to detect inefficiencies, like slowdowns, stoppages, or errors in real-time, as mentioned on YC’s webpage. The debate over AI’s impact on employment is not new. Even, according to Goldman Sachs’ estimate, up to 300 million jobs could be lost globally by 2030 due to artificial intelligence adoption.