Meta Whistleblower Alleges Company Aided China's AI Ambitions, Compromising US National Security

Meta secretly helped China advance AI, ex-Facebooker will tell Congress

Later today, a former Facebook employee, Sarah Wynn-Williams, will testify to Congress that Meta executives "repeatedly" sought to "undermine US national security and betray American values" in "secret" efforts to "win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China." In her prepared remarks, which will be delivered at a Senate subcommittee on crime and counterterrorism hearing this afternoon, Wynn-Williams accused Meta of working "hand in glove" with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That partnership allegedly included efforts to "construct and test custom-built censorship tools that silenced and censored their critics" as well as provide the CCP with "access to Meta user data -- including that of Americans." Wynn-Williams worked as Facebook's Director of Global Public Policy from 2011 to 2018. She left at the height of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as Mark Zuckerberg was being grilled by Congress over misinformation and election interference on its platform. Today, Zuckerberg has attempted to move his company further right in seeming efforts to continue repairing damage from that fallout (with some conservatives still concerned about left-wing bias on social media), and Wynn-Williams' testimony perhaps stands to frustrate Republican lawmakers in control of Congress, just as they may potentially be warming back up to Meta. In her prepared testimony, Wynn-Williams accused Meta executives of lying "about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public." As early as 2014, Wynn-Williams alleged that Meta "began offering products and services in China." And as early as 2015, they "began briefing" the CCP "on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence," with "the explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies," Wynn-Williams claimed. "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," Wynn-Williams' remarks said, seemingly referring to a November Reuters report where researchers warned that "top Chinese research institutions linked to the People's Liberation Army have used Meta's publicly available Llama model to develop an AI tool for potential military applications." According to Wynn-Williams, "Meta's internal documents describe their sales pitch for why China should allow them in the market by 'help[ing] China increase global influence and promote the China Dream.'" Wynn-Williams will tell Congress that "Meta does not dispute these facts. They can't. I have the documents. As recently as this Monday, they claimed they do not operate services in China. Another lie." Raising its defense, Meta has claimed that Wynn-Williams' book makes "false accusations" and allegations that are "out-of-date and previously reported," NBC News reported. In 2019, Mark Zuckerberg gave a speech admitting that Facebook never reached an agreement with China "on what it would take for us to operate there, and they never let us in," NBC News noted. By that point, Wynn-Williams was no longer with the company, and Meta's spokesperson Andy Stone told NBC News that "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," Stone said. Asked for comment, Meta shared the same statement. Congress must intervene, again, Meta whistleblower says Wynn-Williams said that her testimony comes in defiance of an arbitrator's order to cease promoting her book about her nearly seven years at Facebook and retract claims that were "disparaging, critical, or otherwise detrimental" to Meta, NBC News noted. Meta sought the order to enforce a non-disparagement clause in Wynn-Williams' contract, but it didn't stop her book from becoming a bestseller or block Wynn-Williams from testifying today. Ahead of her testimony, Careless People sits at No. 2 on The New York Times nonfiction bestsellers list. "The American people deserve to know the truth," Wynn-Williams will testify as explanation for her decision to defy Meta's gag order, which, she said, "is so expansive that it prohibits me from speaking with Members of Congress." Stone told NBC News that Meta only "objects" to her giving media interviews and claimed that "the company's position is that she's not barred from testifying before Congress, by either her separation agreement or the arbitration award." In her prepared testimony, Wynn-Williams warned that Meta's "secret mission" to build "a physical pipeline connecting the United States and China" (known as "Project Aldrin") was only thwarted when Congress stepped in. This afternoon, Congress will have a chance to question her about details revealed in her book, which a 404 Media review praised as "the book about Facebook" that's been "wanted for a decade," allegedly making it clear that Meta has lied to the public and "just doesn't care." Despite Donald Trump moving to loosen regulations on tech companies, the Senate subcommittee chair, Josh Hawley (R.-Mo.), remains critical of big tech companies like Meta allegedly wielding "monopolistic power" to control the news and "our personal data," NBC News reported. "Meta has been willing to compromise its values, sacrifice the security of its users, and undermine American interests to build its China business," Wynn-Williams will testify. "It's been happening for years, covered up by lies, and continues to this day. I am here at considerable personal risk because you have the power and the authority to hold them accountable."

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

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a Meta Platforms Inc. executive turned whistleblower, plans to testify before Congress that the social media giant threatened US interests while cozying up to China -- claims the company said are false. Wynn-Williams, who served as director of global public policy for the company, will tell the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that she witnessed executives undermining US national security. The testimony will include allegations that Meta, formerly called Facebook, helped China advance in the artificial intelligence arms race.

Former Facebook executive tells Senate committee company undermined US national security with China

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on U.S. artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony. Her book "Careless People," an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list amid efforts by Meta to discredit the work and stop her from talking about her experiences at the company. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, during the hearing. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China," she said in her prepared remarks. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the U.S., bowing to pressure from China to do so. In a statement, Meta 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 hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

Meta's code may have fueled China's AI surge, says whistleblower

In what happens to be a shocking development, former Meta team member Sarah Wynn-Williams has accused the Menlo Park-based firm of aiding China's AI developments at the cost of compromising national security. Williams, who served as the Director of Global Public Policy at Meta from 2011-2017, is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism about her experiences at the company. Williams is set to appear in court to answer claims that suggest Meta employees undermined U.S. national security in their bid to help China with AI. According to her, Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2015. These briefings allegedly focused on emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence. "The explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies," Wynn-Williams states in her draft testimony. She suggested there's a 'straight-line' connecting those briefings to China's attempts to build AI models for military use based on Meta's technology. Meta, on the other hand, has denied these allegations. Spokesperson Andy Stone suggested her accusations are "divorced from reality and riddled with false claims." Wyn-Williams suggested that Meta has worked secretly with China under a program called 'Project Aldrin.' According to her, this initiative was limited in knowledge to a handful of important staff members.

Meta Accused of Assisting China's AI Ambitions, Whistleblower to Tell Congress - Decrypt

A new testimony is set to raise uncomfortable questions about Meta's relationship with China and its long-term implications. That's the explosive allegation from Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former senior Meta executive turned whistleblower, who will testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism. In prepared remarks first obtained by NBC News, Wynn-Williams accuses Meta of secretly aiding the Chinese Communist Party while misleading Congress, employees, and the American public. "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," Wynn-Williams will say, referring to Meta's internal presentations to Chinese officials as early as 2015. Meta did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment. The hearing comes at a moment of mounting concern in Washington about China's accelerating AI capabilities, especially after Chinese startup DeepSeek shocked global markets in January by releasing a model 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 way to "help China increase global influence and promote the China Dream," as per internal documents. "Meta does not dispute these facts," Wynn-Williams said. "They can't. I have the documents." Her testimony is the latest chapter in a growing controversy that began earlier this year when Meta successfully blocked the publication of her New York Times best-seller memoir, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism, now ranked third on Amazon's Most Read Nonfiction list. The book, which peeks into Meta's internal culture and its alleged cooperation with China's censorship regime, had garnered early praise and was available for pre-order until Meta intervened in arbitration proceedings and secured a gag order against its release. The former executive alleged that Meta developed custom censorship tools for the CCP and considered sharing user data with Chinese authorities. "I watched as executives decided to provide the Chinese Communist Party with access to Meta user data -- including that of Americans," she says in her draft testimony. Senator Josh Hawley, chairing the subcommittee, has been vocal about the need to investigate Wynn-Williams' claims, saying that her testimony could reveal whether Meta executives misled Congress about the company's dealings with China. Spokesperson Andy Stone described her testimony as "divorced from reality and riddled with false claims," in an emailed statement. Stone claimed that while the company explored offering services in China over a decade ago, it does not operate there today, which Wynn-Williams says is "another lie." The former Meta executive's claims emerge amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China over technology and trade. On April 2, former President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, and "reciprocal tariffs" targeting countries with high trade barriers against U.S. goods. Days later, the administration escalated the trade dispute by imposing a 104% tariff on Chinese exports, following China's move to slap a 34% tariff on American products.w

Meta whistleblower tells senators Facebook worked "hand in glove" with Chinese government to censor posts

Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams told senators in testimony Wednesday on Capitol Hill that the social media company worked "hand in glove" with the Chinese government to censor its platforms, among other allegations. "I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values," Wynn-Williams said in her opening remarks, which were obtained by CBS News before the hearing. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism and led the bipartisan hearing, said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg "made censorship his business model." "The evidence that we have in black and white is a company and leadership that is willing to do anything, anything, work with America's chief competitor, work with our chief adversary," Hawley said. Hawley sent a letter to Zuckerberg Thursday requesting his testimony before the subcommittee, writing, "The American people deserve to know the truth about your company." Wynn-Williams began working at Meta, then known as Facebook, as the director of Global Public Policy in 2011. In her almost seven years with the company, Wynn-Williams told the panel she witnessed the company provide "custom built censorship tools" for the Chinese Communist Party. She said a Chinese dissident living in the United States was removed from Facebook in 2017 after pressure from Chinese officials. Facebook said at the time it took action against the regime critic, Guo Wengui, for sharing someone else's personal information. Wynn-Williams described the use of a "virality counter" that flagged posts with over 10,000 views for review by a "chief editor," which Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut called "an Orwellian censor." These "virality counters" were used not only in Mainland China, but also in Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to Wynn-Williams's testimony. Wynn-Williams also told senators Chinese officials could "potentially access" the data of American users. When Meta engineers expressed concern about data security, Wynn-Williams testified that Meta leadership, including Zuckerberg, were indifferent. Wynn-Williams testified Zuckerberg was "personally invested" in Meta's business relationship with China, claiming he committed to learning Mandarin and "had weekly Mandarin sessions with employees." Wynn-Williams alleged Meta's artificial intelligence model known as "Llama" was used to help DeepSeek. DeepSeek is a Chinese AI company that sent shockwaves through the American technology industry earlier this year when its AI model was shown to be competitive with OpenAI's ChatGPT at a fraction of the cost. In a statement last year on Llama, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone wrote, "The alleged role of a single and outdated version of an American open-source model is irrelevant when we know China is already investing over 1T to surpass the US technologically, and Chinese tech companies are releasing their own open AI models as fast, or faster, than US ones." Wynn-Williams encouraged senators to continue investigating Meta's role in the development of artificial intelligence in China, as they continue their probe into the social media company founded by Zuckerberg. "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," she said. In response to her opening statement, a Meta spokesperson called Wynn-Williams' testimony "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," Meta said in a statement. Meta, which changed its name from Facebook in 2021, operates some of the most popular social media platforms in the United States, including its previous namesake Facebook as well as Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. Washington is taking a more aggressive posture toward China and its growing threat to American economic interests and national security. The Trump administration increased tariffs on imported goods from China to 125% Wednesday. The administration also continues to pursue the sale of TikTtok, a short-form video platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to an American buyer. And on Capitol Hill in 2023, the House of Representatives created the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party to investigate China's challenge to American global power. In March, Wynn-Williams published a memoir called "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism" about her time at Meta.

Ex-Facebook employee to tell Congress the company undermined national security

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former director of global public policy at Facebook, is set to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday. Meta has disputed her account. Sarah Wynn-Williams, a former Facebook employee who alleged misconduct and sexual harassment at the company in a memoir last month, will testify before Congress on Wednesday that Meta executives undermined U.S. national security and briefed Chinese officials on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. In her introductory statement, obtained by NBC News, Wynn-Williams will tell the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism that Meta executives "lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public." "I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values," she will say. "They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China." Wynn-Williams, a former New Zealand diplomat, worked at Facebook from 2011 to 2017. She believes she was fired in 2017 as retaliation for accusing her boss, Joel Kaplan, who at the time was a vice president for global public policy, of sexual harassment. Meta, which owns Facebook, said an investigation cleared Kaplan in 2017 and said Wynn-Williams' book, "Careless People," contained "false accusations about our executives." Meta also said other claims contained in the book were "out-of-date and previously reported," and a former supervisor said she was fired for performance reasons. Wednesday's hearing is an indication of the scrutiny that Meta continues to receive in Washington, despite a months-long effort by Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg to pivot the company's politics to the right, aligning more closely with the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a fierce critic of the major tech platforms who is chairing the hearing, said earlier this year that conservatives should not trust the big tech companies simply because some of their leaders, including Zuckerberg, have now more openly embraced President Donald Trump. "No, I don't think so for a second," he said. "I'm deeply concerned about their monopolistic power. That hasn't changed at all, their ability to turn right back on the control of news and information, their control over our personal data -- none of that has changed." Separately, Meta is preparing for another major fight in Washington next week, when the company is scheduled to go to trial against the Federal Trade Commission in an antitrust case that could potentially see the breakup of Meta if it loses. The company owns the Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger apps. Meta has sought to stop Wynn-Williams from speaking about her book, winning an interim decision last month from an arbitrator finding that she violated a non-disparagement clause in her severance agreement. The arbitrator ordered her to cease promoting her book and retract claims she had made that were "disparaging, critical or otherwise detrimental." But her book has still become a hit, with three weeks on The New York Times' best-seller list for nonfiction books. In her introductory statement for Wednesday's hearing, she wrote that she was testifying despite the arbitrator's order because "the American people deserve to know the truth." Wynn-Williams is expected to face questions both about Meta's past and about its future plans, including with China and artificial intelligence. "Facebook's secret mission to get into China was called 'Project Aldrin' and was restricted to need-to-know staff," Wynn-Williams is set to say in her testimony. "There was no bridge too far. Meta built a physical pipeline connecting the United States and China. Meta executives ignored warnings that this would provide backdoor access to the Chinese Communist Party, allowing them to intercept the personal data and private messages of American citizens. The only reason China does not currently have access to US user data through this pipeline is because Congress stepped in." Wynn-Williams will add that Meta began "briefing" Chinese officials "as early as 2015." "These briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence," she will say. "The explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies. 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. Meta's internal documents describe their sales pitch for why China should allow them in the market by quote 'help[ing] China increase global influence and promote the China Dream.'" Wynn-Williams appears to be referencing a report from Reuters published in November that said researchers linked to China's People's Liberation Army said that Meta's Llama was used to build an AI tool for potential military use. At the time, a Meta spokesperson said that any use of Llama by the People's Liberation Army would violate its policies. In her book, Wynn-Williams said Facebook ignored concerns about expanding into China and plowed ahead with its efforts, writing Zuckerberg committed to the idea of re-entering China in 2014 to grow the company's user base. But by 2019, Zuckerberg said he had largely given up on breaking into the Chinese market because it was too difficult to come to an operating agreement. The company ultimately never released a mainstream consumer app in China. In a 2019 speech, Zuckerberg all but ruled out the possibility and pivoted instead to attacking China's record on free expression. "I wanted our services in China because I believe in connecting the whole world and I thought, maybe we could help create a more open society," he said. "This is something that I worked hard on for a long time. But we could never come to agreement on what it would take for us to operate there, and they never let us in." But Wynn-Williams, in her testimony, will challenge Zuckerberg's credibility on issues of free speech. Various parts of the "Project Aldrin" effort, named for astronaut Buzz Aldrin, have leaked over time. That includes the building of China-specific censorship tools. "Meta's dishonesty started with a betrayal of core American values," she will say. "Mark Zuckerberg pledged himself a free speech champion. Yet I witnessed Meta work 'hand in glove' with the Chinese Communist Party to construct and test custom-built censorship tools that silenced and censored their critics. When Beijing demanded that Facebook delete the account of a prominent Chinese dissident living on American soil, they did it. And then lied to Congress when asked about the incident in a Senate hearing." A Meta spokesperson on Tuesday had no additional comment.

Meta breached US national security with China, whistleblower says

Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the social media company of undermining national security by briefing China on US artificial intelligence efforts. A former Meta executive told a United States Senate committee that the company briefed China on US artificial intelligence (AI) efforts so it could grow its business there. "During my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Sarah Wynn-Williams testified, accusing the company of undermining national security. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values," she continued. "They did these things in secret to win favour with Beijing and build an 18 billion dollar business in China". Wynn-Williams said Meta "ignored warnings" that building a "physical pipeline" between the US and China would provide China with backdoor access to US user data. The plans never materialized but only because lawmakers stepped in, Wynn-Williams said. Wynn-Williams is also the author of a book called "Careless People," that detailed her time at the social media company. The book sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon's best-seller list. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said senator Richard Blumenthal during the hearing. Meta said in a statement to the Associated Press that Wynn-Williams' testimony "is divorced from reality and riddled with false claims". "While [CEO] 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 statement continued. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the US after being pressured from China to do so. Meta told the AP that the account of billionaire Guo Wengui violated Facebook's rules because the account shared people's passport numbers, social security numbers, national ID numbers and home addresses. Zuckerberg, along with other Big Tech executives, have been trying to improve their standing with President Donald Trump's administration in recent months through visits to the White House and Trump's estate at Mar-a-Lago. The hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The US Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

Ex-Facebook employee accuses Meta of 'betraying US values'

"We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony. Read moreThe global race to build AI computing infrastructure Her book "Careless People", an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon's best-seller list amid efforts by Meta to discredit the work and stop her from talking about her experiences at the company. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, during the hearing. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion business in China," she said in her prepared remarks. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the US, bowing to pressure from China to do so. Meta says that account, belonging to billionaire Guo Wengui, shared personally identifiable information such as people's passport numbers, social security numbers, national ID numbers and home addresses and was removed because this violated Facebook's rules. And she said Meta "ignored warnings" that building a "physical pipeline" between the US and China would provide China with backdoor access to US user data. These plans - called the Pacific Light Cable Network - never materialised, but Wynn-Williams said that was only because lawmakers stepped in. In a statement, Meta 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." Zuckerberg, along with other Big Tech executives, have been trying to improve their standing with US President Donald Trump's administration in recent months - through visits to Mar-a-Lago and the White House, as well as monetary donations - it's not yet clear if the efforts are paying off. "This is a man who wears many different costumes," Wynn-Williams said of Zuckerberg. "When I was there, he wanted the president of China to name his first child, he was learning Mandarin, he was censoring to his heart's content. Now his new costume is MMA fighting or ... free speech. We don't know what the next costume is gonna be, but it will be something different. It's whatever gets him closest to power." Read moreMeta ends fact-checking program The hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

Former Facebook executive tells Senate committee company undermined US national security with China

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on U.S. artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony. Her book "Careless People," an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon's best-seller list amid efforts by Meta to discredit the work and stop her from talking about her experiences at the company. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, during the hearing. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China," she said in her prepared remarks. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the U.S., bowing to pressure from China to do so. And she said Meta "ignored warnings" that building a "physical pipeline" between the U.S. and China would provide China with backdoor access to U.S. user data. These plans -- called the Pacific Light Cable Network -- never materialized, but Wynn-Williams said that was only because lawmakers stepped in. In a statement, Meta 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." Zuckerberg, along with other Big Tech executives, have been trying to improve their standing with President Donald Trump's administration in recent months -- through visits to Mar-a-Lago and the White House, as well as monetary donations -- it's not yet clear if the efforts are paying off. "This is a man who wears many different costumes," Wynn-Williams said of Zuckerberg. "When I was there, he wanted the president of China to name his first child, he was learning Mandarin, he was censoring to his heart's content. Now his new costume is MMA fighting or... free speech. We don't know what the next costume is gonna be, but it will be something different. It's whatever gets him closest to power." The hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

Former Facebook executive tells Senate committee company undermined US national security with China

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on U.S. artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony. Her book "Careless People," an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list amid efforts by Meta to discredit the work and stop her from talking about her experiences at the company. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, during the hearing. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China," she said in her prepared remarks. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the U.S., bowing to pressure from China to do so. In a statement, Meta 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 hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp.

Facebook whistleblower tells Congress Meta aided China in AI race

Washington | Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before a US senate committee on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on US artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony.

Former Facebook Executive Tells Senate Committee Company Undermined US National Security With China

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on U.S. artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony. Her book "Careless People," an explosive insider account of her time at the social media giant, sold 60,000 copies in its first week and reached the top 10 on Amazon.com's best-seller list amid efforts by Meta to discredit the work and stop her from talking about her experiences at the company. Meta used a "campaign of threats and intimidation" to silence the former executive, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, during the hearing. Wynn-Williams served as director of global public policy at Facebook, now Meta, from 2011 until she was fired in 2017. "Throughout those seven years, I saw Meta executives repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values. They did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China," she said in her prepared remarks. Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the U.S., bowing to pressure from China to do so. In a statement, Meta 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 hearing comes just days before Meta's massive antitrust trial is scheduled to begin. The Federal Trade Commission's case against the tech giant could force the company to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Whistleblower tells senators that Meta undermined U.S. security, interests

Sarah Wynn-Williams, the former director of global public policy at Facebook, which is now called Meta, testified at a Senate hearing Wednesday that she saw Meta executives "repeatedly undermine U.S. national security and betray American values" during her seven-year stint in that job. In remarks to a hearing convened by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Wynn-Williams alleged that Meta executives worked vigorously to "win favor" with leaders in Beijing to build an $18 billion business in China. Wynn-Williams told Hawley's panel that during her time at Meta: "Company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress and the American public," according to a copy of her remarks. Her most explosive claim is that she witnessed Meta executives decide to provide the Chinese Communist Party with access to user data, including the data of Americans. And she says she has the "documents" to back up her accusations. She said that China is now Meta's second biggest market and that Meta's AI model has "contributed significantly to Chinese advances in AI technologies like DeepSeek. Meta has pushed back on Wynn-Williams' testimony, calling it "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" said Ryan Daniels, a spokesperson for Meta. Meta says it regularly discloses the fact that it generates advertising revenue from advertisers based in China but says that doesn't mean that it operates services in China. It says its services are banned in China. Hawley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, said that Meta or Facebook tried "desperately to prevent" him from holding the hearing. "They have stopped at absolutely nothing to prevent today's testimony. They have absolutely gone to war to try to prevent it," he said. "They have gone 'scorched earth' to prevent her from telling what she knows." He defended Wynn-Williams at the start of the hearing. "They have threatened her with $50,000 in punitive damages every time she mentions Facebook in public ... even if the statements she is making are true," he said. "Facebook is attempting her total and complete financial ruin. They're attempting to destroy her personally, they're attempting to destroy her reputation and I think the question is, 'Why?'" "What is it they are so afraid of?" Hawley asked. "I think that we've already got a sense of it. Sarah Wynn-Williams knows the truth about Facebook. That's what they fear." Wynn-Willias told senators that Meta built a "physical pipeline connecting the United States and China" and executives "ignored warnings that this would provide backdoor access to the Chinese Communist Party, allowing them to intercept the personal data and private messages of American citizens." She said that China does not currently have access to U.S. user data only because Congress "stepped in." Meta disputes that claim as false. The pipeline to China mentioned by the whistleblower, the Pacific Light Cable, was never completed. The cable, which was first announced in 2016 with support from Facebook, Google and other companies, was envisioned as a high-capacity fiberoptic undersea cable running thousands of miles under the Pacific Ocean connecting Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Bloomberg reported in 2020 that Facebook, Google and other companies abandoned their plans to link the U.S. to Hong Kong. They revised their proposal to build the link only as far as Taiwan and the Philippines, according to Bloomberg. Wynn-Williams also told lawmakers that while Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to champion free speech, she witnessed the company work closely with the Chinese Communist Party "to construct and test custom-built censorship tools that silenced and censored critics of the Chinese Communist Party." She said the company agreed to Beijing's demand that it delete the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living on American soil and then "lied to Congress" about the incident at a Senate hearing. A person familiar with the matter said Wynn-Williams is referring in her testimony to Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui. Reuters reported in 2017 that Facebook had taken down a page affiliated with Wengui because he violated the company's community standards. Wynn-Williams testified that Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist party as early as 2015, and provided information about critical emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. "There's a straight line you can draw from these briefings to the recent revelations that China is developing AI models for military use," she said. Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta, disputed a Reuters report in October of 2024 that the Chinese People's Liberation Army researched and developed a powerful AI model based on Meta's open-source Llama AI program. "The alleged role of a single and outdated version of an American open-source model is irrelevant when we know China is already investing over 1T to surpass the US technologically, and Chinese tech companies are releasing their own open AI models as fast, or faster, than US ones," Stone posted on X in response to the report. Wynn-Williams has filed a shareholder resolution asking the company's board to investigate its activity in China and filed whistleblower complaints with the Securities and Exchange Administration and the Department of Justice. The hearing took place Wednesday afternoon in the Senate's Dirksen Office Building.

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

Sarah Wynn-Williams, a Meta Platforms executive turned whistleblower, plans to testify before Congress that the social media giant threatened US interests while cozying up to China -- claims the company said are false. Wynn-Williams, who served as director of global public policy for the company, will tell the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that she witnessed executives undermining US national security. The testimony will include allegations that Meta, formerly called Facebook, helped China advance in the artificial intelligence arms race. "Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2015," Wynn-Williams, who recently published a best-selling memoir titled Careless People about her experience at Facebook, said in prepared remarks obtained by Bloomberg News. "These briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. The explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies." In her testimony, Wynn-Williams suggests that there's a "straight line" to draw from these briefings to China's current use of Meta's AI tools to build out its military capabilities -- a claim she doesn't support with details or personal experience. Wynn-Williams left Facebook in 2017. The prepared remarks were first reported by NBC News. A representative for Meta said that the testimony is "divorced from reality and riddled with false claims." Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been public about the company's past interest in offering services in China "and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said. But "the fact is this: We do not operate our services in China today." Stone has also questioned a Reuters article alleging that Chinese researchers linked to the People's Liberation Army developed an AI model for military use based on Meta's AI technology, reporting that Wynn-Williams appears to be referencing. Facebook never succeeded in launching in the country, and the social media platform is still banned there over censorship issues. But Wynn-Williams plans to highlight Meta's ongoing business with the nation -- pointing to corporate filings that reference revenue Meta gets from advertisers in China. Wynn-Williams' memoir vaulted to the top of best-seller lists after Meta succeeded in getting an emergency arbitrator to block her from repeating disparaging remarks about the company. Her book has drawn the interest of lawmakers, including Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who leads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee. Hawley also joined a bipartisan cohort of lawmakers in early April to investigate Wynn-Williams' claims that Meta provided AI tools, including surveillance software, to the Chinese Communist Party.

Author of explosive Meta memoir stars at US Senate hearing

Former Meta executive Sarah Wynn-Williams accused the company of secretly collaborating with the Chinese government on AI and censorship, then lying to Congress. Testifying before the US Senate, she claimed Facebook aided Beijing's censorship efforts. Meta denied the allegations, calling them false. Wynn-Williams' book Careless People details her claims.The former Facebook employee behind a scathing book about parent company Meta on Wednesday alleged that the social networking giant collaborated with the Chinese government on artificial intelligence, censorship and more, then lied to Congress about what it was doing. Former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, told members of a Senate committee that top Facebook executives met routinely with Chinese officials, schooling them on technology to compete with US companies and even building products to appease Beijing's government censors. "The greatest trick (Meta founder and CEO) 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 of the Meta co-founder and chief executive. Wynn-Williams said she saw Meta work "hand in glove" with the Chinese Communist Party to construct censorship tools tested on users in Taiwan and Hong Kong. "When Beijing demanded that Facebook delete the account of a prominent Chinese dissident living on American soil, they did it and then lied to Congress when asked about the incident in a Senate hearing," Wynn-Williams said. Meta communications director Andy Stone told AFP Wynn-Williams' testimony was "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," he added. The company's family of apps is currently blocked in China. Meta's open-source artificial intelligence platform Llama can be used there, as can its Oculus virtual reality gear, hearing testimony indicated. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who initiated the hearing, cited documents and testimony provided by Wynn-Williams to accuse Zuckerberg of lying during past congressional hearings. "The truth is, Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have lied to the American people repeatedly," Hawley said. 'Careless People' Wynn-Williams's book, "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism," was released on March 11 and became a bestseller despite Meta winning an arbitration court order barring the author from promoting the work or making derogatory statements about the company. Her book recounts working at the tech titan and includes claims of sexual harassment by longtime company executive Joel Kaplan, a prominent Republican and ally of President Donald Trump who took over as head of Meta's global affairs team this year. Meta took the matter to arbitration, contending the book violates a non-disparagement contract signed by Wynn-Williams when she worked with the company's global affairs team. "The measure of how important these truths are is directly proportional to the ferocity of Meta's efforts to censor and intimidate me," Wynn-Williams told Senators. "Careless People" ranks second on a New York Times bestseller list of nonfiction books.

'Meta worked hand in glove with Chinese Communist Party to test custom built censorship tool': Sarah Williams

Former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, accusing the social media company of undermining national security and briefing China on U.S. artificial intelligence efforts in order to grow its business there. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China. And during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams said in her prepared testimony.

Ex-Meta executive claims Facebook helped China develop AI, betrayed U.S. national security in shocking Senate testimony

Sarah Wynn-Williams, an ex-Meta executive, made shocking claims about the company's dealings with China during a heated Senate hearing. She accused the tech giant Facebook of secretly assisting China in the advancement of artificial intelligence technology, potentially endangering US national security. Her testimony has sparked renewed concerns about Big Tech's global alliances and motivations. In her harsh memoir "Careless People," Sarah Wynn-Williams described her time at Meta. She testified that she saw Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other executives "repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values" besides lying to Congress, as quoted in a report by The NY Post. She claimed that top executives misled Congress and collaborated with the Chinese government to gain market access. The allegations have sparked bipartisan outrage, with calls for a federal investigation and more scrutiny of Meta. Facebook's former global public policy director, Wynn-William, told lawmakers during her opening statement that Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist Party "as early as 2015" while working on "Project Aldrin," a top-secret initiative to access China's lucrative market. The clear objective of these briefings, which covered important emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, was to assist China in out-competing American businesses, according to Wynn-Williams, who was employed by the social media behemoth from 2011 to 2017, as quoted in a report by The NY Post. These briefings can be directly linked to the recent disclosures that China is using Meta's Llama model to develop AI models for military applications, she continued. The Senate Judiciary's crime and counterterrorism subcommittee held the hearing after Meta secured an emergency order prohibiting Wynn-Williams from publicly discussing or promoting her accusations against the company. Her book "Careless People" shot to the top of best-seller lists in spite of that. According to Wynn-Williams, Meta's AI model Llama "has contributed significantly to Chinese advances in AI technologies like DeepSeek." This is after the company released a model that was comparable to its American competitors and that, according to Wynn-Williams, cost less than $6 million to train. This led to a tech selloff in the US earlier this year, as quoted in a report by The NY Post. Mark Zuckerberg's greatest ploy, according to Wynn-Williams, was to wrap the American flag around himself, claim to be a patriot, and claim that he didn't provide services in China, despite spending the previous ten years developing an $18 billion company there. According to Wynn-Williams, Meta viewed the tech briefings with high-ranking Chinese officials as a component of the "value proposition" it could provide to win over Beijing. The whistleblower also described her claim that, in response to pressure from China, the company agreed to block accounts run by Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese billionaire and dissident, in 2017 after developing a "censorship system" on behalf of the CCP in 2015 that endangered the privacy of American users. The chair of the committee, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), accused Meta of attempting to silence Wynn-Williams, pointing out that the arbitration ruling has resulted in $50,000 in damages "every time she mentions Facebook in public." The $50,000 amount comes from the separation agreement Wynn-Williams signed when she left the company in 2017, according to Meta spokesman Andy Stone. It covers any breach of contract, not just non-disparagement, as quoted in a report by The NY Post. What was the Meta whistleblower accusing the company of? She claimed that Facebook helped China develop advanced AI and lied to Congress about it. Does Meta deny the claims? Yes, Meta claims the allegations are false, and her testimony is misleading.

'Zuckerberg learnt Mandarin, travelled to China...': Sarah Williams drops bombshell at Senate hearing

Sarah Wynn-Williams, who spent nearly seven years at Facebook (now Meta) as director of Global Public Policy, claimed in a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing that executives "repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values," reported Fox News. Her testimony echoed damning allegations made in her memoir Careless People, which quickly climbed into Amazon's top 10 bestsellers despite reported pushback from Meta. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China, and during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," she stated during her opening remarks. Wynn-Williams said that Meta held confidential briefings with the Chinese Communist Party as far back as 2015, allegedly focusing on sensitive technologies like artificial intelligence. She also claimed Meta's work aided China's progress in AI development, pointing to advancements such as DeepSeek.

'Zuckerberg compromised US user info': Ex-Meta Exec grilled over China accessing Facebook data

The former Facebook employee behind a scathing book about parent company Meta on Wednesday alleged that the social networking giant collaborated with the Chinese government on artificial intelligence, censorship and more, then lied to Congress about what it was doing. Former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, told members of a Senate committee that top Facebook executives met routinely with Chinese officials, schooling them on technology to compete with US companies and even building products to appease Beijing's government censors. "The greatest trick (Meta founder and CEO) 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 of the Meta co-founder and chief executive.

'Facebook compromised US citizens' data...': Hawley exposes Meta's plan to build data center in China

The former Facebook employee behind a scathing book about parent company Meta on Wednesday alleged that the social networking giant collaborated with the Chinese government on artificial intelligence, censorship and more, then lied to Congress about what it was doing. Former global policy director Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at the company from 2011 to 2017, told members of a Senate committee that top Facebook executives met routinely with Chinese officials, schooling them on technology to compete with US companies and even building products to appease Beijing's government censors. "The greatest trick (Meta founder and CEO) 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 of the Meta co-founder and chief executive.

Meta whistleblower to tell Congress that company aided China in AI race

Former Meta executive Sarah Wynn-Williams plans to testify before Congress, accusing the company of undermining US national security and helping China advance in AI. Wynn-Williams claims Meta briefed the Chinese Communist Party on emerging technologies, though Meta denies the allegations, calling them false. Her testimony could fuel ongoing investigations.Sarah Wynn-Williams, a Meta executive turned whistleblower, plans to testify before Congress that the social media giant threatened US interests while cosying up to China -- claims the company said are false. Wynn-Williams, who served as director of global public policy for the company, will tell the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that she witnessed executives undermining US national security. The testimony will include allegations that Meta, formerly called Facebook, helped China advance in the artificial intelligence arms race. "Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2015," Wynn-Williams, who recently published a best-selling memoir titled Careless People about her experience at Facebook, said in prepared remarks obtained by Bloomberg News. "These briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence. The explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies." In her testimony, Wynn-Williams suggests that there's a "straight line" to draw from these briefings to China's current use of Meta's AI tools to build out its military capabilities -- a claim she doesn't support with details or personal experience. Wynn-Williams left Facebook in 2017. The prepared remarks were first reported by NBC News. A representative for Meta said that the testimony is "divorced from reality and riddled with false claims." Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has been public about the company's past interest in offering services in China "and details were widely reported beginning over a decade ago," Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said. But "the fact is this: We do not operate our services in China today." Stone has also questioned a Reuters article alleging that Chinese researchers linked to the People's Liberation Army developed an AI model for military use based on Meta's AI technology, reporting that Wynn-Williams appears to be referencing. Facebook never succeeded in launching in the country, and the social media platform is still banned there over censorship issues. But Wynn-Williams plans to highlight Meta's ongoing business with the nation -- pointing to corporate filings that reference revenue Meta gets from advertisers in China. Wynn-Williams' memoir vaulted to the top of best-seller lists after Meta succeeded in getting an emergency arbitrator to block her from repeating disparaging remarks about the company. Her book has drawn the interest of lawmakers, including Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who leads the Senate Judiciary subcommittee. Hawley also joined a bipartisan cohort of lawmakers in early April to investigate Wynn-Williams' claims that Meta provided AI tools, including surveillance software, to the Chinese Communist Party.

Ex-Meta executive tells Congress social media giant actively helped China

A whistleblower on Wednesday told congressional lawmakers that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other executives lied to Congress as Meta actively tried to help China develop artificial intelligence in an effort to win favor with Beijing. Sarah Wynn-Williams, who detailed her experience at Meta in the scathing memoir "Careless People", testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism that she witnessed Zuckerberg and other executives "repeatedly undermine US national security and betray American values," the New York Post reported. Wynn-Williams served as the director of Global Public Policy at Facebook, now Meta, for nearly seven years starting in 2011. She said company executives "did these things in secret to win favor with Beijing and build an $18 billion dollar business in China." Meta allegedly helped China develop advanced artificial intelligence to help outcompete American companies, she said. "We are engaged in a high-stakes AI arms race against China, and during my time at Meta, company executives lied about what they were doing with the Chinese Communist Party to employees, shareholders, Congress, and the American public," Wynn-Williams will said in her opening statement. Despite attempts by Meta to discredit her work and stop her from talking, Wynn-Williams' book shot to the top 10 on Amazon's best-seller list. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Meta spokesperson said Wynn-Williams' testimony was "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 statement said. Among her allegations, Wynn-Williams said Meta's AI model "has contributed significantly to Chinese advances in AI technologies like DeepSeek." In addition, Wynn-Williams also said Meta deleted the Facebook account of a prominent Chinese dissident living in the U.S., amid pressure from Beijing. The account belonged to billionaire Guo Wengui. Meta said it was removed because it violated Facebook's rules by sharing sensitive information about other people. "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. Her statement argues that "Meta started briefing the Chinese Communist Party as early as 2015" and those "briefings focused on critical emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence." "And he continues to wrap the flag around himself as we move into the next era of artificial intelligence." In addition to allegedly trying to cozy up with China, Zuckerberg and other tech executives have tried improve their relationship with President Donald Trump, following his election victory last November. "This is a man who wears many different costumes," Wynn-Williams said of Zuckerberg during her testimony. "When I was there, he wanted the president of China to name his first child, he was learning Mandarin, he was censoring to his heart's content." She added that Zuckerberg is now focused on accumulating important contacts. "We don't know what the next costume is gonna be, but it will be something different," she said. "It's whatever gets him closest to power." Wednesday's hearing came days before Meta is slated to go on trial for alleged antitrust violations.

Whistleblower claims Meta helped China develop advanced AI to...

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. 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. Meta has strenuously denied Wynn-Williams' allegations. The company abandoned its efforts to enter the Chinese market in 2019. A Meta spokesman 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. 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.