Latest news with #ProjectAldrin
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Whistleblower claims Meta helped China develop advanced AI to ‘outcompete American companies': bombshell testimony
Meta actively helped China in the race to develop artificial intelligence as part of its failed effort to cozy up to Beijing, a former executive-turned-whistleblower said during a bombshell Senate hearing on Wednesday. Sarah Wynn-Williams, who detailed her experience at Meta in the scathing memoir 'Careless People,' testified that she witnessed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other executives lie to Congress and 'repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values.' During her opening statement, Wynn-William, Facebook's former director of global public policy, told lawmakers that Meta began providing briefings to the Chinese Communist Party 'as early as 2015' while pursuing 'Project Aldrin' – a top-secret effort to gain access to China's lucrative market. 'These briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence – explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies,' said Wynn-Williams, who worked at the social media giant from 2011 to 2017. 'There's a straight line you can draw from these briefings to the recent revelations that China is developing AI models for military use, relying on Meta's Llama model,' she added. The hearing before the Senate Judiciary's subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism occurred after Meta obtained an emergency order barring Wynn-Williams from promoting or publicly discussing her allegations against the company. Despite that effort, her book 'Careless People' surged to the top of best-sellers lists. Wynn-Williams said Meta's AI model Llama 'has contributed significantly to Chinese advances in AI technologies like DeepSeek' – which sparked a US tech selloff earlier this year after releasing a model on par with American rivals that it claims cost less than $6 million to train. 'The greatest trick Mark Zuckerberg ever pulled was wrapping the American flag around himself and calling himself a patriot and saying he didn't offer services in China while he spent the last decade building an $18 billion business there,' Wynn-Williams said. 'And he continues to wrap the flag around himself as we move into the next era of artificial intelligence.' Meta saw the tech briefings with top-level Chinese officials as part of the 'value proposition' it could offer to get into Beijing's good graces, according to Wynn-Williams. The whistleblower also detailed her allegation that the company developed a 'censorship system' in 2015 on behalf of the CCP that risked exposing the data of American users and agreed to block accounts in 2017 operated by Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese billionaire and dissident, after facing pressure from China. Committee chair Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accused Meta of trying to silence Wynn-Williams – noting that she faces $50,000 in damages 'every time she mentions Facebook in public' as a result of the arbitration ruling. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the $50,000 figure is from the separation agreement that Wynn-Williams signed when she left the company in 2017 and applies to any breach of contract, not just non-disparagement. The company abandoned its efforts to enter the Chinese market in 2019. Stone said Wynn-Williams' 'testimony is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims.' 'While Mark Zuckerberg himself was public about our interest in offering our services in China and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago, the fact is this: we do not operate our services in China today,' the spokesman added. Hawley, who previously told The Post that he would be looking for instances where Facebook had lied under oath to Congress about its China ties, said he is pursuing a 'full-scale investigation into the potential illegal behavior of Facebook.' At one point during the hearing, Hawley referenced internal conversations in 2017 in which Facebook employees discussed taking down the dissident's account. Months later, a Facebook executive testified to the Senate that action was taken through regular channels. 'Facebook received direct pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and bowed to it and discussed it internally and planned it and then lied about it to Congress,' Hawley said. Hawley suggested that Zuckerberg misled Congress about the extent of his communication with China — despite Wynn-Williams' assertion that top executives were in regular contact with Beijing. He also signaled that Meta may have violated a 2012 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission to protect the privacy of user data. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who also attended the hearing, said Facebook's effort to penalize Wynn-Williams for going public 'can be easily abused to silence her.' Elsewhere, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said it was 'disgusting and the height of hypocrisy for a supposed free speech champion, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta, to use a campaign of threats and intimidation to try to silence you.' 'The American people are going to be pretty outraged that Mark Zuckerberg sold out America to China. That he imperiled our national security for a buck,' Blumenthal added. In her memoir, Wynn-Williams detailed examples of what she called a 'rotten company culture' reaching as high as Zuckerberg, former COO Sheryl Sandberg and current top policy executive Joel Kaplan. The memoir alleged that Sandberg once spent $13,000 on lingerie for herself and a young female assistant and later invited Wynn-Williams to 'come to bed' during a long flight home from Europe, among other salacious claims. As The Post has reported, watchdogs like the Tech Oversight Project have called on Congress to 'drop the hammer' on Meta over its China dealings.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Senate committee opens review into Meta's efforts to gain access to China
A US Senate investigative subcommittee opened a review on Tuesday into efforts by Facebook parent Meta Platforms to gain access to the Chinese market and is seeking documents from the company. Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, joined by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat, and Senator Josh Hawley asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about allegations that it worked to build censorship tools for the Chinese Communist Party as part of its attempt to gain entry to the Chinese market, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The senators want Meta to disclose extensive records including all company communications or records of meetings with Chinese government officials since 2014. They want Meta to do this by April 21. The senators cited reports in the recently published book 'Careless People,' by former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams, that in 2014 the company allegedly developed a 'three-year plan' to gain access to the Chinese market. The initiative was code-named 'Project Aldrin,' the book said. The senators' letter said the 'accounts are corroborated by internal records documenting these efforts reviewed by the Subcommittee.' A Meta spokesperson rejected the claims. 'This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today. It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world,' the company said. 'We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019.' Blumenthal said the issue raises serious concerns. 'Chilling whistleblower documents reviewed by the Subcommittee paint a damning portrait of a company that would censor, conceal, and deceive, to obtain access to the Chinese market,' he said. The letter seeks records related to Facebook/Meta's subsidiaries and partners in China and to its launch of apps in China, including Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout, Hyperlapse and MSQRD, and all communications referring or relating to 'Project Aldrin.' The letter also seeks records since 2014 'relating to any effort to censor or otherwise remove content at the government's request' and about an abandoned effort to connect an undersea telecommunications cable between California and Hong Kong.
CNN
02-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
US Senate committee opens review into Meta's efforts to gain access to China
A US Senate investigative subcommittee opened a review on Tuesday into efforts by Facebook parent Meta Platforms to gain access to the Chinese market and is seeking documents from the company. Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, joined by Senator Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat, and Senator Josh Hawley asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg about allegations that it worked to build censorship tools for the Chinese Communist Party as part of its attempt to gain entry to the Chinese market, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The senators want Meta to disclose extensive records including all company communications or records of meetings with Chinese government officials since 2014. They want Meta to do this by April 21. The senators cited reports in the recently published book 'Careless People,' by former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams, that in 2014 the company allegedly developed a 'three-year plan' to gain access to the Chinese market. The initiative was code-named 'Project Aldrin,' the book said. The senators' letter said the 'accounts are corroborated by internal records documenting these efforts reviewed by the Subcommittee.' A Meta spokesperson rejected the claims. 'This is all pushed by an employee terminated eight years ago for poor performance. We do not operate our services in China today. It is no secret we were once interested in doing so as part of Facebook's effort to connect the world,' the company said. 'We ultimately opted not to go through with the ideas we'd explored, which Mark Zuckerberg announced in 2019.' Blumenthal said the issue raises serious concerns. 'Chilling whistleblower documents reviewed by the Subcommittee paint a damning portrait of a company that would censor, conceal, and deceive, to obtain access to the Chinese market,' he said. The letter seeks records related to Facebook/Meta's subsidiaries and partners in China and to its launch of apps in China, including Colorful Balloons, Flash, Boomerang, Layout, Hyperlapse and MSQRD, and all communications referring or relating to 'Project Aldrin.' The letter also seeks records since 2014 'relating to any effort to censor or otherwise remove content at the government's request' and about an abandoned effort to connect an undersea telecommunications cable between California and Hong Kong.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Hypocrisy of Zuckerberg and Meta's China Policy
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta (formerly Facebook) has positioned itself as a global tech giant with a mission to connect the world. Facebook was created in 2004 in a college dorm at Harvard University and now is used by approximately three billion monthly active users. It is an amazing company that has done much to share updates on life for individuals for both professional and recreational purposes. The revolutionary idea filled a need in our ever-expanding desire to consumer information and share updates on life with friends and family. However, one concern with the direction of the company's is rhetoric about China laced with hypocrisy. This is especially true as it relates to their lobbying and public relations campaign to ban one of its competitors while maintaining close ties with the Chinese government. From lobbying for a TikTok ban to facilitating content censorship of President Donald Trump, Meta's actions reveal a far more complex and concerning relationship with China than what Zuckerberg would have the world believe. Zuckerberg's overtures to China date back to 2014, when Zuckerberg actively courted the Chinese government by assembling a team to create a version of Facebook that could operate within the strict confines of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) regulations. This effort, code-named "Project Aldrin," sought to enable Meta's services to gain access to the Chinese market while appeasing the government's demands for censorship. In his pursuit of China's market, Zuckerberg was willing to compromise Meta's core principles. In 2014, Meta even drafted a letter offering the Chinese consulate in San Francisco the ability to "take down terrorist sites that are potentially dangerous for China," showcasing the company's willingness to work with the CCP to stifle dissent both inside and outside of China. In return for access to China's market, Zuckerberg's Meta was willing to give up privacy protections and allow the Chinese government access to data on its users, including those based in Hong Meta, Zuckerberg has his own personal relationship with China. In 2014, he wrote a blurb for Chinese President Xi Jinping's book The Governance of China. He even asked Xi to name his unborn child, a gesture that demonstrated his deep respect, or perhaps subjugation, to the Chinese leader. In Meta's transparency reports, the company admits to removing content at the request of the CCP. In 2017, Meta covertly launched social apps under a China-based company created by one of its employees, and even restricted the account of Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire and outspoken critic of the CCP, after receiving pressure from Chinese regulators. This selective censorship is not just about protecting Meta's interests; it signals a broader willingness to compromise its values to gain favor with a repressive regime. Meta's hypocrisy becomes even more apparent when compared to its stance on TikTok. Zuckerberg has consistently lobbied for the banning of the Chinese-owned social media app, claiming that TikTok poses a national security threat and that it should be banned in the United States. This stance is curious, given that Meta itself has deep ties to China. While Zuckerberg rallies against TikTok for its alleged ties to the Chinese government, he fails to acknowledge that his company operates under similar conditions. Meta built its AI programs with access to data and talent from China, and it continues to work closely with Chinese nationals in senior leadership roles. If TikTok poses a threat to the U.S. based on its connection to China, then Meta should be scrutinized just as intensely for its own actions in the country. Meta's hypocrisy extends beyond its dealings with the CCP. Zuckerberg has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to censor content in response to political pressures, most notably in his dealings with the U.S. government. Under pressure from the Biden administration, Meta took steps to restrict the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 and took down posts related to Hunter Biden's laptop. Zuckerberg's decision to ban President Donald Trump from Facebook raised questions about the extent to which the company is willing to censor political speech in the name of protecting its image or political interests. Zuckerberg's position on TikTok is part of a broader effort to secure Meta's dominance in the social media landscape. In a recent statement, Zuckerberg acknowledged that a potential ban of TikTok in the United States could benefit Meta, as TikTok is one of the company's main competitors. Zuckerberg has long sought to expand Meta's global reach, and the anti-China rhetoric seems more like a strategic move to weaken a competitor than a principled stance on censorship or national security. If Meta is truly committed to its mission of connecting the world and promoting democratic values, it must be held accountable for its actions. The public deserves transparency, and Zuckerberg's hypocrisy must be confronted head-on.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Whistleblower complaint expands on claims that Facebook once built a censorship tool to win over China
A report from The Washington Post details allegations made by whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams about Facebook in a 78-page complaint filed last April with the SEC, including that the company built a censorship system in hopes to be allowed to operate in China and that it considered allowing the Chinese government to access users' data in the country. Claims that Facebook developed a content suppression tool to appease China, where it has been blocked since 2009, were first reported as far back as 2016 by The New York Times. Wynn-Williams has a memoir about her time at Facebook, Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work, coming out this week. Wynn-Williams — a former Facebook global policy director who was fired in 2017 — said in the complaint that the company formed a team in 2014 focused on creating a version of Facebook that would comply with China's laws, under the code-name 'Project Aldrin,' The Washington Post reports. In addition to building a censorship system, it was reportedly proposed during negotiations with Chinese officials that the company allow a Chinese private-equity firm to review content posted by users in China, and that Facebook hire hundreds of moderators dedicated to the effort of squashing restricted content. In a statement to The Washington Post, spokesperson Andy Stone said the company's past interest in the Chinese market is 'no secret,' and that CEO Mark Zuckerberg had announced a move away from these efforts in 2019. But Wynn-Williams' complaint paints a fuller picture of how far Facebook (pre-Meta) was allegedly willing to go to gain a Chinese userbase. Read The Washington Post's full report here. Zuckerberg has since become vocal about 'free expression' and made changes to how Meta's platforms approach moderation. Earlier this year, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook and Instagram would end fact-checking and instead adopt X-style Community Notes.
