Meta Accused of Aiding China in AI Development

• Sarah Wynn-Williams alleges Meta briefed the CCP on AI as early as 2015, intending to assist China outcompete U.S. enterprises, notably via Project Aldrin.
• Using Meta’s Llama model, the claimed cooperation may have revealed American user data and supported China’s military AI developments.

 Sarah Wynn-Williams, who oversaw Facebook’s global policies from 2011 to 2017, gave a scathing speech to the Senate. She claimed Meta executives repeatedly attempted in secret to undermine US national security and betray American values to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China. Wynn-Williams claims Meta started offering goods and services in China in 2014 and worked with the CCP to develop and test custom-built censorship technologies that silenced and suppressed their critics while giving access to Meta user data, including that of Americans.

Wynn-Williams, who departed the firm before Congress probed Mark Zuckerberg in 2018 regarding false information and electoral activity connected to Cambridge Analytica, contended that Meta’s behavior was willfully hidden. She said Meta representatives misled “employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party.”

Connections to Military Applications and Emerging Technologies

Wynn-Williams claims Meta started talking to Chinese officials about “critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence,” clearly aiming to help China beat U.S. rivals. She cited a Reuters piece saying “top Chinese research institutions tied to the People’s Liberation Army have utilized Meta’s openly accessible Llama model to create an AI tool with potential military uses.” Emphasizing the dependence on Meta’s Llama framework, she said, “You can track a direct route from these discussions to recent reports of China constructing AI systems for military objectives.”

Wynn-Williams said internal papers showed Meta suggested its cooperation with China as a way to boost China’s global clout and advance the China Dream in return for access into its market. However, according to Meta spokesman Andy Stone, these claims were “unrelated” to reality.

Meta’s Congressional Defense and Pushback

Meta has vehemently denied Wynn-Williams’s story, calling her claims baseless assertions based on outdated, already-covered remarks. Mark Zuckerberg tackled the problem directly in a 2019 NBC News interview, stating, “We have been honest about wanting to run there, but they have never let us in. He underlined that Meta’s desire to enter China was widely known over a decade ago but never came true, and our services aren’t active in China today. NBC News mirrored Meta’s position, describing Wynn-Williams’ claims as detached from the facts and loaded with errors.”

Her evidence has driven Congressional movement in spite of Meta’s denial. Speaking before a Senate committee led by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo), Wynn-Williams underlined worries that reflect those of conservatives hesitant about Meta’s power. Hawley, who has already condemned Meta’s “monopolistic grip” on news and our private information, views this as another cause for control. Her allegations confuse Zuckerberg’s continuous attempts to restore confidence with the party for Republicans doubtful of liberal bias on social media. 

Wynn-Williams’s claims go beyond her evidence. Before her Senate testimony, her book, Careless People, which chronicled her tenure at Facebook, became the second-bestselling nonfiction work on the New York Times. She said Meta tried to delay its publication using a non-disparagement clause in her separation agreement. NBC News, though, she said her proof reversed an arbitrator’s decision to stop sales and erase disparaging, critical, or otherwise harmful remarks about the business.

Wynn-Williams said, “Meta’s gag order failed.” It prevents me from speaking to Congressional Members, but she maintained, “The American people deserve to know the truth.” Meta said the company’s stance is that either her separation agreement or the arbitration award does not prevent her from testifying before Congress; it objects to her media interviews, however.

Wynn-Williams’ evidence also comes among changing messages from Donald Trump, who has said willingness to re-engage diplomatically with Chinese President Xi Jinping even under mounting new tariffs on Chinese goods, hence intensifying the trade war. This follows President Trump’s 125% tax on Chinese exports. Trump claimed in an Oval Office statement on April 9 that he is willing to talk and ready to meet with Xi to de-escalate tensions. The overture adds an ironic twist: while Trump criticizes China’s influence and actions to economically isolate Beijing, a major U.S. technology corporation is charged with covertly supporting China’s AI goals behind the scenes.