Meta Accused of Assisting China’s AI Ambitions, Whistleblower to Tell Congress

A brand new testimony is ready to lift uncomfortable questions on Meta’s relationship with China and its long-term implications.

That’s the explosive allegation from Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former senior Meta government turned whistleblower, who will testify Wednesday earlier than the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism.

In ready remarks first obtained by NBC Information, Wynn-Williams accuses Meta of secretly aiding the Chinese language Communist Occasion whereas deceptive Congress, staff, and the American public.

“There’s a straight line you’ll be able to draw from these briefings to the current revelations that China is growing AI fashions for navy use, counting on Meta’s LLaMA mannequin,” Wynn-Williams will say, referring to Meta’s inside displays to Chinese language officers as early as 2015. 

Meta didn’t instantly reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.

The listening to comes at a second of mounting concern in Washington about China’s accelerating AI capabilities, particularly after Chinese language startup DeepSeek shocked international markets in January by releasing a mannequin that rivaled U.S. giants like OpenAI, triggering a $600 billion tech selloff and AI arms race.

Wynn-Williams remarked that Meta pitched their entry into China as a approach to “assist China improve international affect and promote the China Dream,” as per inside paperwork.

“Meta doesn’t dispute these details,” Wynn-Williams mentioned. “They will’t. I’ve the paperwork.” 

In a guide

Her testimony is the most recent chapter in a rising controversy that started earlier this yr when Meta efficiently blocked the publication of her New York Instances best-seller memoir, Careless Individuals: A Cautionary Story of Energy, Greed, and Misplaced Idealism, now ranked third on Amazon’s Most Learn Nonfiction record.

The guide, which peeks into Meta’s inside tradition and its alleged cooperation with China’s censorship regime, had garnered early reward and was obtainable for pre-order till Meta intervened in arbitration proceedings and secured a gag order towards its launch.

The previous government alleged that Meta developed customized censorship instruments for the CCP and regarded sharing consumer information with Chinese language authorities. 

“I watched as executives determined to offer the Chinese language Communist Occasion with entry to Meta consumer information—together with that of People,” she says in her draft testimony. 

Senator Josh Hawley, chairing the subcommittee, has been vocal about the necessity to examine Wynn-Williams’ claims, saying that her testimony may reveal whether or not Meta executives misled Congress concerning the firm’s dealings with China. 

Spokesperson Andy Stone described her testimony as “divorced from actuality and riddled with false claims,” in an emailed assertion. 

Stone claimed that whereas the corporate explored providing providers in China over a decade in the past, it doesn’t function there at present, which Wynn-Williams says is “one other lie.”

The previous Meta government’s claims emerge amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China over know-how and commerce. 

On April 2, former President Donald Trump introduced a 25% tariff on all foreign-made cars, a ten% baseline tariff on all imports, and “reciprocal tariffs” concentrating on international locations with excessive commerce obstacles towards U.S. items. 

Days later, the administration escalated the commerce dispute by imposing a 104% tariff on Chinese language exports, following China’s transfer to slap a 34% tariff on American merchandise.w

China has vowed to “struggle until the tip,” the nation’s embassy within the U.S. posted on X, labeling the U.S. motion as blackmail and refusing to again down.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair