Meta Whistleblower to Tell Congress That Company Aided China in AI Race

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a Meta Platforms government turned whistleblower, plans to testify earlier than Congress that the social media large threatened US pursuits whereas cozying as much as China — claims the corporate stated are false. Wynn-Williams, who served as director of worldwide public coverage for the corporate, will inform the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that she witnessed executives undermining US nationwide safety. The testimony will embody allegations that Meta, previously known as Facebook, helped China advance within the synthetic intelligence arms race.

“Meta began briefing the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2015,” Wynn-Williams, who not too long ago revealed a best-selling memoir titled Careless People about her expertise at Facebook, stated in ready remarks obtained by Bloomberg News. “These briefings targeted on important rising applied sciences, together with synthetic intelligence. The express purpose being to assist China outcompete American firms.”

In her testimony, Wynn-Williams suggests that there is a “straight line” to attract from these briefings to China’s present use of Meta’s AI instruments to construct out its navy capabilities — a declare she would not assist with particulars or private expertise. Wynn-Williams left Facebook in 2017.

The ready remarks had been first reported by NBC News. A consultant for Meta stated that the testimony is “divorced from actuality and riddled with false claims.”

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been public concerning the firm’s previous curiosity in providing providers in China “and particulars had been broadly reported starting over a decade in the past,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone stated. But “the very fact is that this: We don’t function our providers in China immediately.”

Stone has additionally questioned a Reuters article alleging that Chinese researchers linked to the People’s Liberation Army developed an AI mannequin for navy use based mostly on Meta’s AI expertise, reporting that Wynn-Williams seems to be referencing.

Facebook by no means succeeded in launching within the nation, and the social media platform continues to be banned there over censorship points. But Wynn-Williams plans to spotlight Meta’s ongoing enterprise with the nation — pointing to company filings that reference income Meta will get from advertisers in China.

Wynn-Williams’ memoir vaulted to the highest of best-seller lists after Meta succeeded in getting an emergency arbitrator to dam her from repeating disparaging remarks concerning the firm. Her e book has drawn the curiosity of lawmakers, together with Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who leads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

Hawley additionally joined a bipartisan cohort of lawmakers in early April to research Wynn-Williams’ claims that Meta offered AI instruments, together with surveillance software program, to the Chinese Communist Party.

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