Zuckerberg discusses Biden’s involvement in vaccine speech censorship, Trump event, and the future of Meta, highlighting the future AI technology development standards in the US-China competition.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast on January 11th, where he discussed the Biden administration’s involvement in vaccine discourse, the Trump incident, Apple’s market monopoly issues, and Meta’s future layout in AI technology development.

Vaccine discourse controversy and the struggle between Biden administration and Meta
Zuckerberg mentioned that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic Party-led Biden administration pressured Meta and other social media companies to strengthen the review of vaccine-related discussions.

Meta had just ended its third-party fact-checking mechanism, and Biden directly criticized Meta.
He added that the Biden administration wanted to use Meta to increase the vaccination rate. At that time, there were many unconfirmed data on the efficacy and risks of vaccines, but the government insisted on promoting the benefits of vaccination to the public and suppressing other dissenting opinions.

Government continues to exert pressure, Meta adheres to legal bottom line
Zuckerberg admitted that this pressure led to a tense relationship between Meta and the government. He mentioned that Meta eventually took some measures to respond to the government’s requests, but it also sparked debates about freedom of speech and government intervention. “When certain content is based on facts, the government should not pressure platforms and attempt to hide this information,” he emphasized.
Zuckerberg stated that although Meta recognizes the importance of vaccines, it still insists on handling content review on the platform according to the law to avoid infringing on users’ freedom of speech under political pressure. He expressed the hope that future governments will make data more transparent when facing public health issues.

The Trump incident that incited the Capitol riot and led to social media account bans
Regarding the conflict with Donald Trump, Zuckerberg mentioned that any action by Trump on social media would cause a sensation. Zuckerberg referred to January 6, 2021, before the Capitol riot, when Trump said to his supporters during a rally at the Capitol building, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” This statement was seen as the catalyst for the riot.
After the riot, Trump posted a message saying, “Remember this day forever!” and “I hope the Democrats, and even more importantly, the weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party, are looking at the thousands of people pouring into D.C. They won’t stand for a landslide election victory to be stolen.” Many people believed that Trump was trying to absolve himself of the riot. Subsequently, Facebook and other mainstream social media platforms, such as Twitter, suspended Trump’s accounts.

Image of the 2021 Capitol riot
(Zuckerberg threatened by Trump’s new book, publicly intimidated by changes in Meta’s content review: “If you’re scared, that’s good”)

Criticizing Apple’s market monopoly and stagnant innovation
When talking about Apple, Zuckerberg did not hide his dissatisfaction. He believes that Apple has lacked substantial innovation in recent years, instead maintaining market dominance through its 30% App Store commission policy and agreements that restrict competitors from connecting to its devices, thereby damaging the entire tech ecosystem.
Zuckerberg emphasized that Apple’s closed system prevents competitors’ technologies from entering its platform, especially in terms of hardware integration. He gave an example of Meta’s desire to seamlessly connect its smart glasses, Ray-Ban, with the iPhone, but Apple refused to open its own protocols, citing security reasons. “Apple says our technology is not secure, but the problem lies in the protocols they designed themselves. They intentionally exclude other manufacturers,” Zuckerberg complained.

Meta’s smart glasses with Apple’s iPhone
Zuckerberg bluntly stated that Apple has not brought any real breakthrough innovations since the launch of the iPhone. He believes that Apple now relies more on market monopoly to maintain its position rather than leading the market through innovation. “Apple relies on plundering, not innovation. Jobs did change the world, but Apple has almost stagnated now.”

Concerns about Apple’s future and hopes for competition to change the status quo
Regarding Apple’s Vision Pro wearable device, Zuckerberg believes that while Vision Pro has high resolution, it is too bulky and expensive. He mentioned that Meta’s Quest series of mixed reality headsets are priced at only one-tenth of Vision Pro’s price but provide a better interactive experience.

Vision Pro vs Quest
Zuckerberg stated that although Apple’s market position is still strong, he believes that the rapid development of the tech industry will give other companies the opportunity to grow and challenge Apple. He mentioned that Meta is already ahead of its peers in AR and AI technology and hopes to drive more competition in the market, forcing Apple to open its own system.

The competition between the US and China will determine the development standards of AI, and the replacement of humans is unlikely
Regarding the future development of AI technology, Zuckerberg believes that AI should not be monopolized by a single country or company, which is why he advocates for open-source technology. He cited China as an example, pointing out that the Chinese company DeepSeek censors all discussions about the Tiananmen Square incident or criticism of Chinese leader Xi Jinping in their AI models. He believes that the US government should strongly support the development of the domestic tech industry because the outcome of the competition between the US and China will directly affect the future technology standards and values of AI worldwide.
As for whether AI will replace human jobs, Zuckerberg said, “Each time a new AI technology emerges, it raises such concerns, but history has proven that humans will eventually create more cultural and creative jobs.” He believes that in the future, AI will become “intermediate engineers” that can assist in coding and significantly enhance human creativity and efficiency.
Finally, Zuckerberg emphasized that the future of AI is not just a technological race but more like a value dispute. He believes that the US’s open-source model and innovative culture can have an advantage in global competition but must find a balance between technology dissemination and the protection of democratic values. “The development of AI technology is not a zero-sum game. We need to find the best balance between fair distribution and safeguarding freedom. Ensuring that these technologies are transparent and fair is crucial for the future of the world.”
(Zuckerberg reveals that the Biden administration pressured to censor content in the US, covering up his son’s scandal, and admits regret: regrets cooperating)

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