Former Executives Reveal Meta’s Support for China’s AI Development DeepSeek, Congress Outraged and Reinvestigates Zuckerberg

U.S. Senate Sparks Hearing Storm Against Meta

Recently, the U.S. Senate has ignited a storm of hearings targeting Meta (formerly Facebook), with former executive Sarah Wynn-Williams testifying before Congress. She pointed out that the company not only tacitly permits collaboration with the Chinese Communist Party but also indirectly aids China in developing artificial intelligence technologies similar to ChatGPT through its AI model “Llama.” This testimony has attracted widespread attention from national security, industry, and the AI open-source community.

DeepSeek Rises: Created Using Meta Technology, Challenging OpenAI’s Position

In her testimony, Wynn-Williams stated that the emergence of Chinese startup AI company DeepSeek is closely related to Meta’s open-source AI model Llama. DeepSeek successfully launched a generative AI model capable of competing with OpenAI for just $6 million, demonstrating the powerful assistance Llama provides to China’s AI development. This new AI force, endorsed by the Chinese government, has raised concerns that U.S. open-source technology is being “weaponized in reverse,” enabling China to make breakthrough advancements in military and surveillance fields.

Meta’s Internal “Space Program”: Project Aldrin Reveals Close Interaction with

According to Wynn-Williams, Meta has been secretly briefing Chinese officials on key technologies, including AI, since 2015, with the aim of “helping China defeat U.S. competitors.” She further accused Meta of executing a plan known as “Project Aldrin,” which established a physical data transmission pipeline between the U.S. and China. Despite warnings from cybersecurity experts that it could become a backdoor for , the upper management ignored the risks. She emphasized, “The only thing stopping China from accessing U.S. user data through this pipeline is intervention from Congress.”

AI Arms Race Heats Up, Adding Variables to U.S.-China Relations

This revelation comes at a time when the U.S.-China technology war is intensifying, with the U.S. government continuously tightening export restrictions on advanced AI chips in an attempt to slow China’s progress in generative AI. “The current challenge is how to balance national security with encouraging innovation,” said Prabhu Ram, Vice President of CyberMedia Research. He believes that if the accusations are true, it would significantly impact global AI technology confidentiality and prevention of transfer mechanisms, possibly forcing the U.S. to reevaluate its public-private sector collaboration and even create new international AI regulations.

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities? “Virality Counter” Raises Questions of Authoritarian Control

Wynn-Williams revealed that Meta has developed a so-called “virality counter” mechanism for viral posts. When a post exceeds 10,000 views, it triggers a review process where an “editor” manually filters content. This mechanism is not only applicable to China but also covers Hong Kong and Taiwan, raising concerns among democratic factions about freedom of speech. Senator Richard Blumenthal described this system as an “Orwellian censorship tool.”

From Language Classes to Business Ambitions: Did Zuckerberg Personally Lead the Strategy Towards China?

According to the testimony, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally taken charge of the strategy to enter China, even attending Chinese language classes weekly to deepen interactions and cooperation with Chinese officials. Wynn-Williams bluntly stated, “He wraps himself in the American flag, calling himself a patriot, while in reality, he has spent a decade building an $18 billion business empire in China.”

Meta Denies Allegations: Testimony “Disconnected from Reality”

In response to the series of accusations, a Meta spokesperson countered that these claims are “disconnected from reality and full of errors,” emphasizing that Meta has not operated services in China, and Zuckerberg’s business ambitions towards China have been publicly known for many years. However, there is a general belief that this incident will further drive Congress to enforce stricter regulations on large tech companies.

The Double-Edged Sword of Open Source Models: Is Llama Innovation or National Security Risk?

Llama, as an open-source AI model launched by Meta, has long been seen as a key force driving the democratization of AI globally. It allows developers to freely train and deploy AI on their own infrastructure without relying on closed commercial models, significantly lowering entry barriers. However, its openness also makes it difficult to manage national security risks. Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO of Greyhound Research, pointed out, “We need a regulatory tool for AI models themselves, rather than just focusing on the hardware level. The old framework is no longer effective.”

Critical Moment for AI Regulation: What’s Next?

The revelations by Wynn-Williams and ongoing congressional inquiries have ushered international cooperation and technology export in AI into a new phase. The U.S. currently engages frequently with China in AI research collaboration, but concerns about China potentially militarizing technology could lead to drastic changes in future cooperation dynamics. “If regulations are too stringent, it may harm the U.S.’s own innovation and leadership,” warned Prabhu Ram, “We should develop precise, targeted regulations and enhance enforcement.”

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