Ex-Exec Blasts Meta: Revealed AI Efforts to China, Jeopardized U.S. Security
Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook executive, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to accuse the social media giant of jeopardizing national security and sharing details about U.S. advancements in artificial intelligence with China to expand its market there.
"In an intense AI competition with China, I witnessedMeta’s leadership misrepresent their activities involving the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the general U.S. population during my tenure," stated Wynn-Williams in her pre-submitted remarks.
Her book Careless People , a revealing inside look at her tenure with the social media corporation, moved 60,000 units in just one week and cracked the top 10 on Amazon’s bestseller chart despite Meta's attempts to undermine the book and prevent her from sharing her insights into life within the organization.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat representing Connecticut, stated during the hearing that Meta employed a "series of threats and intimidating tactics" to suppress the former executive.
Wynn-Williams worked as the director of global public policy at Facebook, which later became known as Meta, from 2011 till her dismissal in 2017.
Over those seven years, I witnessed Meta leaders consistently compromise U.S. national security and violate American principles. They carried out these actions covertly to gain favor with Beijing and establish an $18 billion enterprise in China, as stated in her pre-prepared comments.
Wynn-Williams further mentioned that Meta removed the Facebook account of a well-known Chinese dissident residing in the United States after succumbing to pressures exerted by China.
She stated that Meta “disregarded alerts” about constructing a “direct physical connection” between the U.S. and China, which could grant Chinese entities indirect access to personal information of American users. Known as the Pacific Light Cable Network project, these proposals did not come into fruition; however, according to Wynn-Williams, this occurred solely due to intervention from government officials.
Meta stated in a release that Wynn-Williams’ statements “are out of touch with reality and filled with inaccurate assertions. Although Mark Zuckerberg openly discussed our desire to provide our services in China and extensive coverage began more than ten years ago, the truth remains: we currently do not run our services in China.”
Recently, Zuckerberg and other major tech leaders have attempted to bolster their relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration through various means such as visiting Mar-a-Lago and the White House, as well as making financial contributions. However, it remains uncertain whether these endeavors are proving successful.
"As someone who dons numerous disguises," Wynn-Williams commented about Zuckerberg.
When I visited, he wished for the Chinese president’s inaugural newborn to bear witness to how diligently he was studying Mandarin. He reveled in censorship wholeheartedly during this period. Currently, his persona oscillates between emulating an MMA fighter or championing free speech. The nature of his upcoming transformation remains uncertain, yet it will surely diverge from the norm. This shift aims to place him as close to power as possible.
The hearing takes place mere days ahead of Meta's significant antitrust trial commencement. The Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against the technology behemoth has the potential to compel the firm to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp.
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