Department shut down after engineers secretly pooled access to forbidden AI models via a shared folder

Sudden_Rip7717 · reddit · 2026-09-23

A throwaway Reddit post describes a 1000+ person tech division engineered into internal competition, where only weak 'approved' models were allowed for staff. A forgotten shared folder became an unofficial chat where teams shared failures and solutions — and someone found ways into the company's better 'forbidden' models, with people pooling usage quotas. Productivity soared, but the whole department was eventually shut down for the group chat and unauthorized model use. The author reflects: a rule locking you out of your own job stops feeling like a rule once you've seen the better tools work.

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